STORIES  OF 
THE  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2014 

https://archive.org/details/storiesofgermanaOOsing_0 


THE  CONVERSION  OF  ST.  MAURICE 
'■oju  the  painting  by  Matthias  Griinewald  at  Munich) 


The  border  to  the  title-page  is 
a  reduction  from  the  title-page 
(a  copy  after  Hans  Holbein)  to 
the  De  Arte  Supputandi  of  Bishop 
Cuthbert  Tonstall,  anno  1522. 


All  rights  reserved 


PREFACE 


The  existence  of  a  book  like  Sandrart's  Teutsche 
Akademie  made  it  possible  for  me  to  carry  out 
the  present  volume  on  the  lines  mapped  out  for 
the  whole  series.  Sandrart,  however,  is  no  Vasari, 
and  it  would  not  have  been  advisable  merely  to 
furnish  a  translation  of  Sandrart  alone.  After 
once  having  given  the  reader  an  impression  of 
quasi  contemporary  criticism  as  it  is  to  be  found 
in  Sandrart,  I  have  considered  it  necessary,  in 
most  cases,  to  add  such  facts  and  corrections  as 
had  been  left  for  later  ages  to  discover.  But 
although  Sandrart,  the  main  source  of  the  pre- 
sent book,  lived  more  than  a  hundred  years  after 
the  great  epoch  of  German  art,  his  accounts 
may  be  accepted  as  in  a  way  contemporary. 
For  he  always  endeavoured,  and  was  sometimes 
able,  to  interview  old  men  whose  teachers  had 
seen  and  spoken  with  the  great  artists,  and 
whose  vivacious  accounts  Sandrart  thus  had  by 
word  of  mouth. 

The  plan  of  the  book  has  imposed  restrictions 

upon  the   present  writer.      If  minor   men  are 

a  2 


VI 


PREFACE 


treated  more  at  length  than  some  artists  of  prime 
importance,  it  is,  of  course,  merely  because  the 
"  sources  "  contained  more  information  about  the 
one  class  than  about  the  other.  It  is  necessary 
to  call  to  mind  the  title  of  the  volume,  which 
runs,  "Stories  of  the  German  Artists,"  and  not 
"History  of  German  Art." 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

[.   THE     EARLY     MASTERS      OK      THE     SCHOOL  OF 

COLOGNE    I 

II.   MARTIN  SCHONGAUER   39 

III.  ALBRECHT  DURER   5 1 

IV.  HANS       P.URGKMAIR,      HANS       BALDUMG,  AND 

MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD       .  .  .  .112 

V.  ALBRECHT    ALTDORFER    AND    THE  NUREMBERG 

M  LITTLE  MASTERS"   1 33 

VI.  THE  TWO  CRANACHS   159 

VII.  THE  TWO  HOLBEINS   1 67 

VIII.   ADAM   ELSHEIMER     ......  207 

IX.  ANTON   RAPHAEL  MENGS    2l8 

X.   DANIEL  CHODOWIECK1   268 

XI.  ANTON  GRAFF            ......  290 

APPENDIX   3°9 

INDEX   311 

vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


COLOURED  PLATES 


The  Conversion  of  St.  Maurice  (from  the 

fainting  by  Matthias  Griinewald  at  Munich)  Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The  Holy  Family  (from  the  painting  by 

Martin  Schongauer  at  Vienna)  .       .       .To  face  40 

Portrait  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian 
{from  the  painting  by  Albrecht  Diirer  at 
Vienna)  .       .       .       .       .       .  84 

Adoration  of  the  Trinity  (from  the  paint- 
ing by  Albrecht  Diirer  at  Vienna)      .  „  92 

Head  of  St.  Catherine  (from  the  painting 

by  Lucas  Cranach  at  Dresden)  .       .       .      „  162 

Portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Milan  (from 
the  painting  by  Holbein  in  the  National 
Gallery)  ,,202 

Tobit  and  the  Angel  (from  the  painting  by 

Adam  Elsheimer  in  the  National  Gallery)      „  214 

Cupid  sharpening  his  Arrow  (from  the 
painting  by  Anton  Raphael  Mengs  at 
Dresden)   258 

ix 


X 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLAIN  PLATES 

PAGE 

Madonna  in  the  Rose  Bower.  {Stephen 

Lochner)  To  face  16 

Madonna  with  Violets.    (Stephen  Lochner)  „  22 

Christ  on  the  Cross.    (Master  of  the  Life 

of  Mary)         ..'...„  24 

The  Descent  from  the  Cross.    (Master  of 

St.  Bartholomew)    .       .        .       .       •  »  34 

Madonna  in  the  Rose  Bower.  (Martin 

Schongauer)     .       .       .       .       .  >>  4  6 

St.  Eustace.    (Dilrer)   »  66 

Adoration  of  the  Magi.    (Dilrer)     .  „  68 

Martyrdom  of  10,000  Christians.   (Dilrer)  78 

The  Four  Apostles.    (Dilrer)     .       .  „  104 

Pieta.    (Hans  Bur gkmair)    .       .       .  „  114 

Susanna.    (Altdorfer)   ,,134 

St.  George  and  the  Dragon.    (Altdorfer).  „  138 

Portrait  of  Herz.    (Pencz)        .       .       .  „  146 

The  Prodigal  Son.    (Sebald  Beham)  .       .  „  154 

The  Rest  on  the  Flight.    (Lucas  Cranack)  „  160 

The  Judgment  of  Paris.   (Lucas  Cranach)  „  164 

Portrait  of  Erasmus.    (Holbein)       .       .  „  172 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

xi 

PAGE 

The  St.   Sebastian  Altar.      {Holbein  the 

Elder)  

To  face  192 

The  Meyer  Madonna.  {Holbein) 

198 

Jupiter  and  Mercury.    {Elsheimer)  . 

210 

Madonna.  {Mengs)  

n  238 

Portrait  of  the  Artist.  {Mengs) 

248 

Portrait  of  the  Artist.  {Chodowiecki) 

274 

Portrait  of  the  Artist.    {Anton  Graff)  . 

3°4 

Errata  in  Plate  Inscriptions. 


Facing  page  22,  for  '  Dusseklorf '  read  '  Cologne  (Seminary).' 

34.  for  '  Master  of  St.  Bartholomew  1  read  '  Master  of  the  Life 
of  Mary.' 

46,  for  '  Dusseldorf '  read  '  St.  Martin's  Church,  Colman' 
,,        146,  for  '  Herz  '  read  '  Veit  Hirsehvogel.' 

,,  192,  for  '  Holbein  the  Elder,  The  St.  Sebastian  Altar,  Munich,' 
read  '  Matthias  Griinewald,  The  Isenheim  Altar, 
Colniar.' 

274,  for  '  Portrait  of  the  Artist 1  read  '  Portrait  of  Dr.  M. 
Levin.' 


STORIES  OF 
THE   GERMAN  ARTISTS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   EARLY   MASTERS   OF   THE  SCHOOL 
OF  COLOGNE 

The  historian  of  modern  Italian  art  can  follow 
his  subject  back  as  far  as  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  in  his  researches  about  its  very  birth  he  en- 
counters definite  personalities,  names  that  have 
the  ring  and  touch  of  something  real  about  them. 
We  possess  a  good  deal  of  precise  information 
about  Cimabue,  for  example,  and  can  follow  him 
on  his  way  from  Florence  to  Rome  and  Assisi ; 
pretty  sure  records  of  his  birth  and  death,  his 
works  and  his  pupils,  have  been  handed  down 
to  us.  When  we  come  down  to  the  next  gene- 
ration, we  find  very  little  that  is  hazy,  or  left 
to  conjecture  only,  about  a  man  like  Giotto  di 
Bondone. 

How  differently  do  matters  lie  as  soon  as  we 

A 


2     STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

cross  the  Alps  and  direct  our  research  towards 
the  primitive  stages  of  German  art  !  It  is,  of 
course,  scarcely  a  matter  of  surprise  that  here 
every  new  departure  should  have  occurred  at 
least  a  full  century  later.  The  art  of  the  brush 
is  known  to  the  true  mediaeval  ages  only  in  two 
forms — as  practised  by  the  illuminator  of  manu- 
scripts, and,  again,  by  the  mural  decorator.  Each 
of  these  practitioners  was  dependent,  a  minor 
agent  who  scarcely  could  claim  to  be  considered 
the  bearer  of  a  separate  and  self  -  reliant  art. 
The  independence  of  painting  rested  upon  the 
introduction  of  the  easel  picture,  and  this  occurred 
north  of  the  Alps  in  the  course  of  the  fourteenth 
century;  but  how  slight  was  the  recognition 
achieved  when  the  novelty  had  come  !  No  less 
a  man  than  Dante  mentioned  and  celebrated 
Cimabue.  Who  ever  mentioned,  let  alone  im- 
mortalised, the  painters  of  the  Cologne  School  ? 
It  is  an  astonishing  fact  that  from  the  earliest 
times  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century  the  name  of  only  one  single  artist  among 
them  all  has  been  handed  down  to  us  in  connec- 
tion with  his  work,  and  even  this  we  do  not 
owe  to  contemporary  writers,  but  to  a  much 
later  man — a  man,  indeed,  who  was  among  the 
first  to  claim  for  the  artist  that  degree  of  atten- 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  3 

tion  and  esteem  which  he  has  since  so  plentifully 
received — to  Albrecht  Dtirer. 

There  are  many  circumstances  which  apprise 
us  of  the  low  estimation  in  which  art  was  held 
during  the  evanescence  of  the  Middle  Ages,  but 
none  enforces  the  point  upon  us  with  greater 
effectiveness  than  this.  Truly,  indeed,  the  man 
whom  later  ages  have  looked  up  to  almost  as  to 
a  special  kind  of  being,  and  about  whose  work 
more  hubbub  has  been  raised  than  about  any 
other  profession  almost,  was  then  held  for  a  mere 
craftsman,  an  artisan  like  every  one  else.  And 
though  he  may  have  done  as  charming  work  as 
he  whom  we  now  style  Master  Wilhelm,  or  as 
beautiful  and  important  work  as  he  whom  we 
now  style  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  the  Virgin, 
or  as  strangely  uncommon  and  startling  produc- 
tions as  the  Master  of  the  St.  Thomas  Altar- 
piece,  yet  he  was  no  more  deemed  worthy  of 
being  cherished  in  the  memory  of  ages  to  come  as 
an  individual  than  the  good  fellow  who  tailored 
well-fitting  clothes,  or  he  who  joined  tables  and 
chairs  well,  or  he  who  perhaps  excelled  as  a 
pastry-cook. 

Knowing  this  to  have  been  the  condition  of 
affairs,  we  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  a 
story  of  early  German  art  must  present  an  alto- 


4     STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

gether  different  appearance  from  that  of  its 
Italian  counterpart.  It  is  a  difficult  and,  at  the 
very  outset,  not  exactly  a  satisfactory  thing,  for 
history  to  begin  with  conjectures,  intangible 
things,  and  supposititious  names.  Until  one  or 
two  generations  ago  the  story  of  German  art 
began  virtually  with  the  sixteenth-century  men. 
Recent  research,  labouring  in  the  face  of  unpar- 
alleled difficulties,  has  done  much,  miraculously 
much,  to  throw  a  light  upon  the  work  and  the 
men  prior  to  the  year  1500.  The  Schools  of 
Tyrol,  of  Nuremberg,  of  Suabia,  Switzerland,  and 
the  Middle  Rhine,  have  been  investigated.  Many 
a  separate  personality  begins  to  loom  up  out  of 
the  haze  in  distinct  and  clear  outlines — distinct 
and  clear  as  to  everything  except  his  name  and 
the  facts  of  his  life ;  in  other  words,  clear  as  to 
his  artistic  intentions  and  achievements.  But  all 
of  this  concerns  as  yet  the  special  student  only. 
There  are  only  two  features  or  items  prior  to 
Dtirer  and  his  contemporaries  which  can  claim 
the  interest  of  the  general  public  so  far — they 
are  Martin  Schongauer  and  the  School  of  Cologne. 

The  popularity  of  the  School  of  Cologne  is  of 
itself  a  proof  of  the  fact  that  it  is  the  most  im- 
portant school  among  the  German  Primitives.  That 
this  should  have  come  to  be  the  case  is  neither 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  5 

a  matter  of  chance  nor  one  for  wonder.  Until 
the  year  1450  or  thereabouts,  Cologne  was  dis- 
tinctly the  metropolis  of  Germany.  Its  vicinity 
to  the  Netherlands,  the  Burgundian  realm,  and 
to  France  will  have  gone  for  much  to  effect  this 
end.  Above  all,  its  commanding  position  upon 
the  great  thoroughfare,  the  Rhine,  will  have 
gained  for  it  a  position  which  insured  importance 
and  wealth.  Though  the  fine  arts  were  de- 
spised, as  we  have  seen,  they  were  even  at  that 
time  a  luxury,  and  they  depended  upon  super- 
fluity of  money  for  their  very  existence  then  as 
they  do  now.  Cologne  assumed  at  that  early 
age  a  position  which  was  occupied  much  later  by 
a  town  that  had  in  a  similar  way  become  excep- 
tionally rich  through  commerce — I  mean  London. 
It  became  the  great  attractor  of  talent  ever  since 
it  was  become  the  great  market.  For,  strange  to 
say,  as  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  not 
one  of  the  many  masters  that  form  the  School 
of  Cologne — certainly  none  of  the  most  impor- 
tant ones — was  a  native  of  the  town.  The 
earliest  came  from  Suabia  and  the  Upper  Rhine  ; 
later  ones  from  Westphalia,  the  Middle  Rhine, 
then  from  the  Dutch  and  the  Flemish  Lowlands. 
Each  brought  some  home  features  with  him,  yet 
each  seems  to  have  accommodated  his  style  at 


6     STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


once  to  the  spirit  that  prevailed  at  Cologne ;  and 
though  we  can  trace  their  schooling  every  time, 
we  should  never  think  of  merely  classing  them 
with  the  schools  they  originally  came  from.  They 
all  have  a  distinct  Cologne  character,  protean  as 
it  is,  about  them.  Thus  we  are,  after  all, 
very  well  justified  in  speaking  of  the  School  of 
Cologne. 

In  passing  the  principal  members  of  the  School 
in  review  before  the  reader,  there  will  be  scarcely 
any  biographical  facts  to  be  submitted,  and 
scarcely  more  of  contemporary  or  even  early 
notices.  In  the  main  the  account  will  have  to 
consist  of  an  enumeration  of  the  principal  works 
of  each  artist,  and  a  brief  indication  of  the  pecu- 
liarities of  his  style,  to  be  left  as  objective  as 
possible. 

Master  Wilhelm  of  Herle  and  Hermann  Wyn- 
rich  of  Wesel  are  the  names  of  two  early  painters 
of  Cologne  that  are  met  with  in  the  records.  In 
the  Chronicle  of  Limburg  we  find,  sub  anno 
1380:  "About  this  time  there  lived  a  painter 
at  Cologne,  whose  name  was  Wilhelm.  He  was 
the  best  painter  in  all  countries  of  the  German 
tongue,  and  he  was  esteemed  by  the  masters,  for 
he  painted  every  man  of  any  kind,  just  as  if  he 
were  alive." 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  7 

From  Guild-books,  and  other  contemporary 
documents,  we  learn  that  there  was  a  master 
painter  Wilhelm  living  at  Cologne  about  that 
time.  His  name  was  Wilhelm  von  Herle,  and 
he  bought,  with  his  wife  Jutta,  one  of  the  houses 
opposite  the  Augustine  convent  in  the  year  1358. 
During  the  years  1370  and  1 37 1  his  name  recurs 
several  times  in  connection  with  pecuniary  trans- 
actions, and  he  must  by  that  time  have  been  pretty 
well  off,  for  he  buys  annuities  for  himself  and 
his  wife,  the  said  Jutta.  About  this  time  we 
also  find  several  records  of  payments  to  him  for 
work  executed  on  behalf  of  the  city.  Particularly 
on  the  14th  of  August  1370,  he  is  paid  nine 
marks  for  illuminating  the  book  in  which  oaths 
were  registered.  This  very  frontispiece,  however 
—  probably  representing  a  "  Crucifixion  "  —  has 
been  torn  out  of  the  book  by  some  ruthless  hand, 
which  is  exceedingly  deplorable,  since  it  would 
be,  if  we  still  possessed  it,  at  least  one  example 
of  this  master's  art,  the  authenticity  of  which 
would  be  above  suspicion.  He  is  not  mentioned 
again  before  the  year  1378,  but  this  time  as 
having  died,  and  the  occasion  refers  to  the  dis- 
posal of  his  property  among  his  heirs.  It  is 
divided  between  his  widow  Jutta  and  his  sister 
Christina,  share  and  share  alike.    In  the  course 


8     STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


of  various  transfers  it  appears  that  presently  Jutta 
invests  part  of  the  property  again  in  an  annuity, 
and  this  annuity  is  registered  in  her  favour  and 
in  that  of  Hermann  Wynrich  of  Wesel,  Master 
Wilhelm's  principal  scholar  and  prop  of  his 
studio,  whom,  according  to  the  guild  custom  of 
the  times,  the  widow  Jutta  had  married.  In 
August  of  the  year  1378  they  established  each 
other  as  sole  heirs  in  the  case  of  either's  demise. 
Purchases  of  annuities  and  of  houses,  some  of 
them  effected  in  Jutta's  name  along  with  his 
own,  prove  that  Hermann  thrived  as  a  painter. 
Jutta  had  died  by  midsummer  1395  ;  sne  na<^ 
borne  neither  of  her  two  husbands  any  children. 
Hermann  was  married  a  second  time  within  two 
years  of  his  first  wife's  death.  He  prospered 
and  accumulated  more  wealth.  He  was  chosen 
into  the  Municipal  Council  in  1397,  1400,  1403, 
1 410,  and  141 3,  in  which  last-named  year  he 
must  have  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  four 
children. 

Such  are  the  scanty  records  which  have  been 
handed  down  to  us  concerning  the  everyday 
life  of  these  men.  It  has  become  customary  to 
ascribe  to  the  elder  of  the  two  a  number  of 
paintings,  clearly  the  best  of  the  School,  and 
clearly  by  one  and  the  same  hand.    The  only 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  9 

grounds  for  this  were  that  it  is  natural  to  con- 
nect the  best  work  of  the  time  with  that  name 
whom  contemporary  accounts  call  the  most  re- 
nowned painter.  Thus  it  happens  that  to  this 
day  this  set  of  pictures  is  ascribed  in  gallery 
catalogues  to  Master  Wilhelm  of  Cologne. 
Later  criticism  has  sought  to  establish  that  the 
paintings  in  question  more  likely  belong  to  the 
end  of  the  century,  that  is,  to  a  period  subse- 
quent to  Master  Wilhelm's  death.  Consequently 
it  is  claimed  that  Hermann  Wynrich  of  Wesel  is 
their  author,  if  indeed  they  may  be  ascribed  to 
either  of  the  two.  But  even  this  is  a  matter  of 
conjecture. 

The  principal  picture  of  the  set,  perhaps,  is  a 
"Madonna  with  the  Pea-blossom"  at  the  Cologne 
Museum.  It  is  a  moderate-sized  triptych,  show- 
ing in  the  centre  the  Madonna,  a  half-length, 
holding  a  pea-blossom  in  her  left  hand,  and 
supporting  the  Christ-child  on  her  right  arm. 
The  child  itself  is  almost  naked,  and  it  holds 
a  golden  rosary  in  its  left,  while  it  raises  its 
right  hand  to  its  mother's  face.  The  interior 
wings  show  St.  Catherine  and  St.  Barbara,  the 
exterior  the  mocking  of  Christ.  "The  interior 
panels  are  exquisitely  finished,  and  the  power 
of  coloration  is  equal  to  that  of  oil  painting, 


io    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

with  an  extremely  soft  sfumato.  The  type  of 
the  heads  displays  a  refined,  longish  oval,  round 
open  eyes,  a  small  mouth,  and  a  long  chin. 
The  draughtsmanship  of  the  heads  is  by  no 
means  correct,  yet  they  display  uncommon  charm, 
and  the  expression  is  one  of  unsullied  simplicity 
and  purity." 

"  In  sweet  chaste  modesty  the  Virgin  looks 
down,  as  if  some  one  had  just  exclaimed  :  *  Happy 
mother ! '  and  she  had  not  found  a  word  to 
reply,  flurried  as  she  was  with  her  secret  joy. 
The  reply  is  contained  in  the  gesture  of  the 
Christ-child."  There  is  an  attempt  to  emphasize 
the  purely  human  element  in  the  scene,  to 
characterise  the  mutual  love  between  mother  and 
child,  and  further,  there  lies  the  truly  human 
worship  of  fair  womankind  embodied  in  the 
painting.  The  mainspring  of  this  work,  and 
all  that  are  grouped  with  it,  is  a  joyous  but 
peaceful  youthfulness,  a  certain  sanguine  ardour 
and  admiration  for  loveliness.  We  scarcely  ever 
find  any  dramatic  grasp,  and  the  bitter  sides  of 
life  do  not  seem  to  exist  for  this  master  or  these 
masters,  for  even  the  solemn  and  tragic  incidents 
of  the  Passion  are  touched  with  a  light  hand  that 
desires  not  to  harp  upon  what  is  saddening. 

There  is  a  similar  picture  at  the  Germanic 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  n 

Museum  in  Nuremberg,  not  quite  as  fascinating 
as  the  Cologne  example,  however,  and  the  same 
holds  good  of  a  "St.  Veronica  with  the  Sudarium," 
now  in  the  Museum  at  Munich. 

The  largest  and,  from  one  point  of  view, 
most  important  work  of  this  group  is  a  large 
altar-piece  now  in  a  chapel  of  the  cathedral  at 
Cologne,  which  was  painted  originally  for  the 
Franciscan  Nunnery  dedicated  to  St.  Clara.  This 
nunnery  was  founded  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  soon  became  a  sort  of 
place  of  refuge  for  the  noblest  dames  and  virgins 
of  Cologne  and  its  vicinity.  In  the  year  1327 
certain  relics  of  St.  Constance,  St.  Ursula,  and 
her  martyrs  were  unearthed  and  housed  here, 
which  gave  additional  splendour  to  the  place. 

The  altar-piece  is  divided  into  twenty-four 
compartments,  separated  by  Gothic  carvings,  and 
in  them  the  life  of  the  Saviour  is  told.  It  was 
in  its  time  an  ideal  representative  of  what  paint- 
ing originally  purported  to  be,  the  literature  of 
the  unlettered,  a  book  of  information  for  those 
unable  to  read.  Even  a  person  of  our  own 
time,  contemplating  this  large  altar-piece,  will  be 
struck  by  a  certain  kind  of  vivacity  that  the 
scenes  display,  almost  as  much  as  by  the  appar- 
ent imperfections  in  drawing  and  limitations  of 


12    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

colouring,  which  are,  of  course,  part  and  parcel 
of  the  early  period  during  which  the  pictures 
were  completed.  There  are  little  genre-traits, 
if  one  may  call  them  so,  to  be  detected  in 
almost  every  panel.  The  little  Christ-child 
apparently  enjoys  its  bath  in  an  altogether  human 
manner,  the  contemplation  of  which  is  likely  to 
distract  pious  beholders,  who  look  solely  for 
elevation.  Again,  when  it  is  presented  in  the 
temple,  it  gaily  leaves  the  priest  with  the 
swaddling  clothes  in  his  hand,  and  runs  across 
the  altar-table  to  its  mother.  In  short,  every- 
where there  is  some  feature  taken  directly  from 
the  life,  more  convincing  and  captivating  than 
anything  which  merely  originated  in  the  imagina- 
tion of  some  painter  ever  could  be.  It  has  been 
conjectured  with  great  plausibility  that  these  and 
similar  scenes  of  the  Passion  and  the  Life  of 
our  Saviour  bear  a  distinct  relation  to  the 
common  performances  of  mysteries  and  miracle 
plays.  These  shows  were  during  the  Middle 
Ages  even  a  more  important  feature  of  daily 
life  than  the  theatre  is  to  us  nowadays,  and  it 
is  therefore  only  natural  that  they  should  have 
exercised  some  influence  upon  the  art  of  the 
times.  Even  such  a  creation  as  Schongauer's 
famous  "  Bearing  of  the  Cross  "  no  doubt  rests, 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  13 

as  far  as  the  composition  goes,  upon  some 
representation  that  the  artist  had  witnessed. 
The  sets  of  Passion  pictures  follow  the  arrange- 
ment and  order  of  the  scenes  in  the  mysteries, 
and  it  is  a  most  natural  explanation  of  the 
realistic  features  in  the  paintings,  if  we  agree 
to  deduce  them  from  the  religious  stage  repre- 
sentations. They  must  have  suggested  many  a 
thing  to  the  painter  which  he,  during  the  mere 
process  of  designing  a  biblical  picture,  would 
never  have  hit  upon. 

Within  the  last  year  or  two  the  paintings  of 
the  group  just  discussed  have  been  receiving 
extraordinary  attention  at  the  hands  of  the 
student.  It  has  been  discovered  that  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  these  works 
were  sorely  tampered  with  and  extensively  re- 
painted. When  these  modern  coatings  were 
removed  from  the  panels  of  the  St.  Clara  altar- 
piece,  quite  a  different  kind  of  type  and  draughts- 
manship appeared.  The  main  lines  of  the  design 
remain  the  same,  even  after  the  removal  of  the 
later  repaintings,  but  the  character  of  the  work 
corresponds  more  to  what  we  would  expect 
of  an  earlier  period,  and  so  perhaps,  after  all, 
we  may  be  justified  in  looking  upon  Master 
Wilhelm  as  the  author. 


i4    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Master  Wynrich  seems  to  have  had  no  pupil 
who  carried  on  his  style  ;  it  was  taken  up  about 
a  generation  later  by  a  stranger  who  came  to 
be  the  most  important  painter  Cologne  ever 
possessed,  and  who  was  clearly  held  for  such 
already  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  On  his 
journey  to  the  Netherlands  Diirer  passed  through 
Cologne,  and  there  he  enters  a  notice  in  his 
diary  such  as  does  not  reappear  on  any  other 
one  of  all  its  many  pages :  "  Paid  two  white 
pence  for  the  unlocking  of  the  altar-shrine  which 
Master  Stephen  painted  at  Cologne."  In  those 
days  paintings  were  placed  to  be  seen,  not 
hidden  from  view  with  the  object  of  mulcting 
the  traveller  for  a  tip.  We  may  well  conclude 
that  the  picture  must  have  been  something  quite 
extraordinary  to  have  been  guarded  like  a 
treasure  which  is  too  choice  to  be  ordinarily  on 
view.  To  this  notice  of  Durer's  we  owe  the 
possibility  of  ascribing  the  painting,  which  was 
kept  in  the  chapel  of  the  Town  Hall,  to  a 
known  painter.  Other  authors,  such  as  Georg 
Braun  in  his  "  Description  of  Cologne,"  which 
appeared  in  1572,  and  Gelenius  in  his  De 
Magnitate  Colonic  (1645),  testify  to  the  regard 
in  which  this  work  was  held  ;  of  all  paint- 
ings in  the  town  they  mention  only  it,  and 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  15 

say  that  it  is  one  of  the  treasures  which  artists 
especially  admire.  One  Quadt  von  Kinckelbach 
published  a  book  on  the  "  Glory  of  the  German 
Nation"  in  1609,  and  there  we  find  a  curious 
passage  relative  to  Diirer's  seeing  the  picture. 
He  writes :  "  Nineteen  years  ago  I  worked  for 
a  goldsmith,  who  was  an  old,  able  artificer  and 
a  man  well  versed  in  things.  He  told  me  about 
a  time  when,  as  he  understood  from  old,  well- 
informed  people,  Albrecht  Diirer  came,  in  pass- 
ing down  (the  Rhine),  to  an  important  and  right 
worthy  city,  which  it  is  not  opportune  to  name 
this  time,  where,  perhaps  more  out  of  service 
to  (emperor)  Maximilian  than  out  of  love  of 
art,  a  masterly  and  uncommonly  beautiful  piece 
was  shown  him,  and  he  was  asked  what  he 
thought  of  it.  Albrecht  Diirer  was  hardly  able 
to  give  utterance  to  his  thoughts  from  wonder 
and  astonishment  at  what  he  saw.  Whereupon 
these  men  said  to  him  :  '  This  fellow  died  in  a 
hospital  here'  (intending  a  hidden  fling  at  Diirer, 
as  being  one  of  those  artists  who  seem  to  think 
so  mighty  much  of  themselves,  and  yet  do  not 
achieve  more  than  wasting  away  in  an  alms- 
house in  the  end).  4  Ah  ! '  replied  Diirer,  '  be 
sure  to  boast  of  that;  indeed,  it  will  contribute 
much  to  your  honour  that  you  should  refer 


1 6    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

disparagingly,  and  even  contemptuously,  to  this 
man,  who  could  have  shed  lustre  upon  your 
very  name.' " 

From  the  archives  of  Cologne  we  have  gleaned 
that  Stephen  Lochner,  for  this  was  his  name, 
bought  a  house  in  October  27th  of  the  year 
1442,  along  with  his  wife  Lysbeth.  Two  years 
later  he  sold  it  and  bought  a  better  one  near 
St.  Alban's  Church.  But  after  that  fortune 
does  not  seem  to  favour  him  any  longer;  he 
is  compelled  to  mortgage  his  property  in  1448. 
He  had  attained  the  rights  of  citizenship  in  the 
previous  year.  If  his  worldly  affairs  did  not 
thrive,  that  did  not  injure  his  reputation^ 
for  in  1447  he  was  elected  into  the  Council, 
and  a  second  time  in  the  year  1450,  about 
Christmas  time.  Within  the  following  twelve- 
month he  died.  The  plague  was  raging  at 
Cologne  at  that  time,  more  especially  in  the 
quarter  of  the  town  in  which  he  lived.  Possibly 
it  attacked  him  and  he  was  transported  to  the 
hospital.  This  would  account  for  the  jibe 
about  the  hospital  of  the  worthy  councillors 
whom  Diirer  answered  so  pertinently.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  he  had  been  ailing  for 
some  time,  and  this  would  explain  why,  in  spite 
of  the  esteem  which  he  met  with,  he  was  unable 


MADONNA   IN   THE  K0> 

(Dusseldorf) 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  17 

to  achieve  a  fortune.  The  conjecture  as  to  his 
illness  is  based  upon  a  statement  of  his  inability 
to  travel,  which  is  contained  in  a  letter  written 
upon  the  1 6th  of  August  145 1,  by  the  Council  of 
Cologne  to  the  Burgomaster  at  Meersburg  on  the 
Bodensee.  The  gist  of  this  interesting  document, 
shorn  of  its  queer  verbiage,  is  something  like 
this:  "We,  the  Council  of  Cologne,  send  best 
greetings  to  the  Burgomaster  and  Council  of 
Meersburg,  wishing  them  everything  good  that 
we  can.  Wise,  honourable,  and  especially  good 
friends !  Our  citizen,  Master  Stephen  the  painter 
yclept  Lochner,  legitimate  son  of  George  Lochner 
and  Alheid  Lochnerin  of  sacred  memory,  your 
citizens  deceased,  has  informed  us  that  various 
goods  and  property  have  descended  upon  him  by 
inheritance  from  his  aforesaid  parents  in  your 
town,  which  he  would  like  to  claim,  but  begs 
that  grace  may  be  granted  him,  since  he  is  not 
yet  able  to  go  upon  a  journey.  Therefore  we 
beg  of  your  honours  and  your  kindness  that  the 
said  inheritance,  descending  to  him  from  the 
aforesaid  parents,  may  be  kept  undivided  and 
unmoved  until  the  time,  which  shall  be  the  very 
earliest  possible,  that  he  can  travel  and  come 
to  claim  it." 

From  this  document  we  learn  that  Stephen's 

B 


1 8    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

family  name  was  Lochner,  and  that  he  was  a 
Suabian  hailing  from  Meersburg,  not  far  from 
Constance.  We  may  also  assume  with  a  good 
deal  of  probability  that  he  died  comparatively 
young,  seeing  that  his  death  occurred  in  the  very 
same  year  as  that  of  his  parents. 

Stephen  Lochner's  main  creation,  the  so-called 
"  Dombild,"  which  to-day  forms  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal treasures  of  the  cathedral  at  Cologne,  was 
painted  to  order  by  him  for  the  chapel  of  the 
Town  Hall.  This  chapel  was  consecrated  in  the 
year  1426,  and  about  this  time  Stephen  will 
probably  have  completed  his  picture.  In  it  he 
had  to  introduce  all  the  elements  of  the  legend, 
which  accounts  for  some  of  the  patron  saints  of 
the  town.  On  Twelfth  Night,  in  the  year  1268, 
the  nobility  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cologne 
conspired  with  the  Archbishop,  and  ventured  an 
attack  upon  the  city  at  night  while  everybody 
was  asleep.  Thereupon  there  was  a  great  scare, 
the  streets  were  filled  with  distracted  people,  and 
there  was  a  wild  helter-skelter.  The  enemy 
appeared  to  be  on  the  verge  of  gaining  their 
point,  when,  lo  !  a  spectral  army  appeared  upon 
the  top  of  the  walls  of  the  town.  It  was  St. 
Ursula,  with  her  eleven  thousand  virgins  and  the 
Three  Magi ;  the  enemy  fled  before  the  appari- 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  19 

tion.  The  citizens,  on  their  part,  claim  to  have 
seen  distinctly  how  the  assembled  saints  blessed 
the  city. 

Besides  these,  St.  Gereon  and  his  three  hundred 
knights  are  patron  saints  of  Cologne,  whereas 
the  chapel  itself  was  dedicated  to  the  Holy 
Virgin.  Lochner  relegates  the  two  saints  with 
their  retinue  to  the  wings,  and  introduces  the 
Magi  as  adoring  the  Mother  and  Child  in  the 
centre-piece.  The  shutters  on  the  outside  show 
an  "  Annunciation."  There  is  only  one  German 
master  of  the  fifteenth  century  who  can  show 
up  anything  that  will  bear  comparison  with  this 
formidable  and  delicious  altar-piece  :  it  is  Martin 
Schongauer.  The  happy  observation  has  been 
made  that  the  two  painters  diverge  upon  the 
matter  of  their  conception  of  Mary.  Schongauer 
reveals  to  us,  above  all,  the  Mother  of  God  ; 
Stephen  Lochner,  the  Virgin.  In  the  work  of 
the  one  she  betrays  depth  of  feeling,  greatness 
of  soul  destined  to  suffer  and  to  bear  up  in 
grief ;  in  the  work  of  the  other  she  is  the  demure, 
fresh,  and  innocent  handmaid  of  God. 

As  such  she  reappears  in  a  "  Madonna  with  the 
Violet"  (now  in  the  Episcopal  Museum  at  Cologne) 
and  in  the  exquisite  "  Madonna  with  the  Christ- 
child  "  in  a  rose  arbour,  attended  by  glorifying 


2o    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


angels,  now  in  the  Museum  at  Cologne.  This 
latter  shows  Lochner's  brilliant — one  may  say, 
sparkling — coloration  to  perfection.  Up  to  now 
the  tendency  of  the  School  was  towards  a  very 
light,  mild,  roseate,  as  one  might  call  it,  scheme 
of  colours.  Lochner  introduces  vivid  and  full 
colours.  It  is  as  if  he  had  received  his  inspira- 
tion in  this  respect  from  the  precious  caskets 
for  relics,  studded  with  sparkling  gems  and 
richly  enamelled,  of  which  Cologne  possessed 
untold  beautiful  specimens.  Indeed  Lochner 
has  a  peculiar  fondness  for  goldsmith's  work  ; 
he  delights  in  rich  costumes,  and  decks  his 
saints  out  with  various  rich  jewellery,  which  he 
paints  with  special  care. 

One  other  important  work  attributed  to 
Lochner  must  be  mentioned,  the  "Last  Judg- 
ment," now  in  the  Cologne  Museum.  The 
Saviour  is  seated  in  the  middle,  on  high  ;  to  the 
left  and  right  of  him  Mary  and  St.  John  kneel  on 
promontories.  Out  of  the  gulf  between  them 
there  issues  a  stream  of  departed  souls,  who  are 
received  on  the  right  side  of  Jesus  by  angels  that 
lead  them  into  the  gate  of  Paradise  and  Heaven, 
on  the  left  by  multi-shaped  devils  that  torment 
them  and  drive  them  on  towards  Beelzebub  and 
the  fiery  gates  of  Hell.     Many  of  the  details 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS 


of  the  scene,  the  approval  which  the  angels 
express  as  well  as  some  of  the  incidents  of  the 
tortures  inflicted  on  the  opposite  side,  verge 
upon  the  comical,  or  at  least  seem  to  us  to  do  so. 
But  that  is  a  characteristic  of  the  times,  and  it  must 
be  remembered  that  pictures  were  then  to  a  great 
extent  meant  to  serve  as  books — books,  indeed, 
for  the  most  illiterate,  for  a  set  of  folk  which 
nowadays  it  would  be  probably  difficult  to 
come  across  within  civilised  countries.  We  may 
still  meet  with  unbounded  ignorance  and  with 
stupidity,  no  doubt.  Yet,  upon  the  whole,  the 
human  brain,  by  sheer  compulsion  and  force  of 
circumstances,  must  have  come  to  work  more 
easily  in  course  of  these  centuries.  Presenta- 
tions which  carry  with  them  some  elements  of 
exaggeration  and  quaintness  that  cannot  fail  to 
excite  our  risibility  must,  five  hundred  years  ago, 
have  been  barely  forceful  enough  to  do  more 
than  just  cause  duller  powers  of  conception  to 
grasp  them. 

A  man  like  Lochner  did  not  neglect  the  story, 
and  did  not  hesitate  to  introduce  many  incidents 
that  would  bring  the  advantage  of  bliss,  or  the 
terrors  of  damnation,  home  to  the  people.  Yet 
this  part  of  his  work  did  not  engage  him  as 
much  as  the  purely  artistic  side.    In  his  flesh 


22    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

colour,  he,  a  Suabian,  approaches  most  of  all  to 
another  famous  Suabian,  his  junior  by  one  or  two 
generations,  Hans  Holbein  the  younger.  The 
type  of  St.  John,  on  the  other  hand,  reminds  one 
very  strongly  of  the  type  of  a  youthful,  manly 
face  which  Diirer  delighted  in. 

The  death  of  Stephen  Lochner  signalises  a 
break  in  the  tradition  of  the  Cologne  School. 
He  has  some  followers  who  continue  in  the 
path  he  has  laid  out  for  them.  But  they  are 
not  men  of  the  first  rank,  and  they  cannot 
compare  with  their  model.  The  next  important 
Cologne  painter,  however — as  far  as  we  have 
been  able  to  establish  a  chronology — departs 
altogether  from  Lo diner's  manner,  and  his  work 
presents  an  altogether  different  appearance.  At 
first  sight,  indeed,  they  appear  to  have  scarcely 
any  point  in  common,  and  it  seems  astounding 
that  so  important  a  painter  as  Lochner  should 
have  utterly  lost  his  influence  within  less  than 
a  generation's  time.  For  the  Master  of  the 
Life  of  Mary  must  have  had  some,  if  not  all, 
of  his  schooling  before  Lochner  died.  But  he 
had  it  in  the  Netherlands,  and  his  manner 
follows  that  of  Rogier  van  der  Weijden,  and 
more  particularly  that  of  Dirk  Bouts. 

With   the  death   of  Lochner  another  new 


Sti-pluit  l.ochntr 

MADONNA   WITH  VIOI.KTS 
(DusseMo-f) 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  23 

feature  is  introduced  in  the  story  of  the  art 
of  the  Colognese  School ;  namely,  all  biogra- 
phical data  of  every  kind  cease.  From  Lochner 
down  to  Barthel  Bruyn,  who  flourished  ex- 
actly a  hundred  years  later,  we  have  not  been 
able  to  identify  a  single  painter  among  the  men 
whose  work  has  been  successfully  sifted  and 
classified.  We  are  thus  compelled  to  take  the 
principal  achievement  of  each  man,  and,  until 
good  luck  will  have  it  that  some  document  is 
discovered  which  gives  us  the  information  we 
require,  we  must  designate  him  by  means  of  his 
principal  work. 

Such  being  the  case,  a  lengthy  treatment  of 
these  painters  is  out  of  the  question  in  a  book 
like  the  present  one,  the  chief  object  of  which 
is  to  convey  a  lifelike  picture  of  the  man  in 
the  artist.  This  is  impossible,  where  there  are 
no  biographical  data,  and  I  must  restrict  myself 
to  a  short  characterisation  of  a  few  of  the  re- 
maining principal  masters. 

The  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  receives  this 
appellation  from  a  set  of  eight  scenes  illustrating 
the  life  of  the  Virgin,  seven  of  which  are  now 
at  Munich,  and  one  in  London.  Each  panel  is 
nearly  a  yard  in  height  and  somewhat  over  a  yard 
in  length.    In  spite  of  these  modest  dimensions 


24    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  series  may  well  be  looked  upon  as  a  worthy 
counterpart  of  Giotto's  famous  mural  paintings 
in  the  Arena  chapel  at  Padua.  There  is  the 
same  sort  of  calm  grasp,  the  same  happy  faculty 
of  choosing  the  most  pregnant  moment  of  each 
scene,  the  same  moderation  as  to  the  intro- 
duction of  dramatic  accent,  prevalent  in  both 
series.  The  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  tells 
his  story  earnestly  and  soberly.  There  is  not 
any  unusual  degree  of  idealism  about  him.  He 
neither  revels  in  the  charms  of  colour  nor  is  he 
sentimental  or  ecstatic.  His  men  are  a  good 
deal  more  worldly  than  those  of  Lochner ;  his 
women  have  seen  more  of  care  and  are  more 
matter-of-fact.  They  have  discarded  the  charms 
of  taste  and  beauty  as  being  not  essential  virtues. 
They  have  become  more  humane,  and  commisera- 
tion with  people  beset  by  worldly  woes  seems 
their  distinguishing  characteristic.  They  seem 
to  think  that  there  is  something  more  practical 
and  valuable  to  live  for  than  the  mere  pleasure 
they  bestow  by  exhibiting  proper  loveliness  for 
the  contemplation  of  him  who  beholds. 

All  the  stories  with  a  sad  vein  in  them  come 
to  the  fore  now.  The  legends,  and  even  the 
martyrdom,  of  most  saints  contain  fantastic 
and  ideal  elements.    The  veneration  of  heavenly 


CHRIST  ON  THE  CROSS 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  25 

ministers,  the  adoration  of  the  Virgin  and  of 
the  Child  in  all  its  forms,  in  fact,  evokes 
purely  optimistic,  pleasurable  sensations.  Now 
the  tales  of  suffering  and  of  grief,  those  in 
which  all  the  protean  forms  of  human  woe  are 
displayed,  take  the  first  rank  in  the  choice  of 
the  painters  as  subjects  for  their  work.  Stories 
of  the  Passion,  the  suffering  of  the  Mother  of 
God,  and  single  pictures  in  which  psychical 
rather  than  bodily  pain  are  embodied,  appear  in 
greater  number. 

Again,  the  people  have  become  better  educated. 
Before  this  period  a  painter  rested  satisfied  with 
the  attempt  of  bringing  the  truth  embodied  in 
each  story  vividly  and  convincingly  home  to 
the  unlettered  man  for  whom  his  picture  was 
made.  Now  there  is  some  attention  paid  to 
how  everything  happened.  There  is,  of  course, 
not  yet  any  historical  accuracy  as  we  know  it 
to-day.  Still,  the  details  are  more  carefully  con- 
sidered, and  it  is  plainly  the  desire  of  the  artist 
to  be  realistic  in  quite  a  different  sense  from 
Lochner  for  example:  he  is  debarred  from  attain- 
ment only  by  the  imperfections  of  his  own  know- 
ledge, not  by  any  failing  desire  on  his  part.  The 
Virgin  of  Lochner  is  Lovely  Womanhood,  with 
dreams  of  happiness  glistening  out  of  her  eyes,  a 


26    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

subject  for  the  worship  of  mankind.  With  the 
Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  she  is  a  mother  of 
man,  full  of  earthly  cares  and  not  at  all  above 
the  ordinary  worry  of  everyday  life,  such  as 
troubles  us  all. 

Not  that  the  painter  is  exceptionally  dismal  or 
pessimistic ;  he  is  only  matter-of-fact.  One  of 
the  paintings  of  the  series  from  which  he  gets 
his  name,  the  "  Nativity  of  the  Virgin,"  is  replete 
with  homelike,  pleasant  touches  that  betray  warm- 
ness  of  feeling.  The  bedroom  in  all  its  neatness, 
with  the  clean  sheets,  orderly  bed,  wardrobe,  box, 
painstakingly  depicted,  betray  the  evident  delight 
the  master  took  in  perpetuating  the  outward 
appearance  of  a  well-ordered  household  in  his 
day.  The  neighbouring  women  have  come  in 
to  help  and  nurse  Mother  Anna ;  one  of  them 
selects  linen  for  the  new-born  infant  and  seems 
to  inquire  of  the  others  whether  she  has  got  hold 
of  the  right  piece.  Another  warms  some  linen, 
a  third  pours  water  in  a  bath,  and  a  fourth  dips 
her  finger  in  it  to  see  whether  the  temperature 
is  right,  while  the  remainder  busy  themselves 
with  the  mother  herself.  The  whole  scene  is 
depicted  with  such  a  degree  of  animated,  yet 
unobtrusive,  matter-of-fact  realism,  that  this 
picture  is  an  invaluable  aid  to  us  in  our  study 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  27 

of  manners  and  customs  quite  apart  from  its 
value  as  a  work  of  art. 

The  question  of  donors'  portraits  has  also 
taken  a  step  in  the  direction  towards  realism 
in  the  meanwhile.  Early  paintings  which  con- 
tain, besides  the  main  subject  of  the  picture, 
effigies  of  the  donor  or  donors  who  paid  for 
the  picture,  show  these  effigies  in  the  form 
of  miniatures  relegated  to  an  obscure  corner  of 
the  picture.  Steadily  the  comparative  size  of 
the  donor-portrait  increases,  and,  by  the  time 
we  are  discussing  at  present,  it  has  grown  to 
reach  the  same  scale  as  the  principal  figures  of 
the  painting  ;  the  donor  is,  in  fact,  occasionally 
shown  as  taking  part  in  the  action  of  the 
painting,  such  as  it  is,  and  portraits  of  donors 
in  pictures  of  these  later  times  have  been  mis- 
taken for  saints. 

If  indoor  scenes,  as  we  have  already  noticed, 
have  become  quite  realistic,  out-of-door  scenes 
have  at  least  made  great  strides  in  the  same 
direction.  The  development  of  landscape  in 
the  Cologne  School  is  very  interesting.  Early 
pictures,  dating  from  about  the  year  1350,  dis- 
play most  shy  and  primitive  attempts.  A 
corner  of  the  gold -sky  background  perhaps 
shows  a  diminutive  attempt  at  clouds.  The 


28    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

gold  background  itself  is  embossed  with  an 
ornament  embodying  a  floral  design.  But  that 
is  as  far  as  the  attempt  to  compass  nature 
beyond  the  human  figure  goes.  In  the  Claren 
altar-piece  one  detects  here  and  there  a  detached 
feature  or  element  of  landscape ;  a  rock  here,  a 
single  tree  there,  a  few  yards  of  meadow  with 
some  sheep  yonder,  each  and  all  of  them  placed 
isolated  upon  the  gold  background. 

Then  at  last  the  foreground,  between  the 
actors  and  the  footlights,  so  to  speak,  is  turned 
into  a  naturalistic  bit  of  landscape,  a  flowery 
meadow  with  pebbles  or  rocks.  This  bit  of 
landscape  gradually  rises,  encroaching  slowly 
upon  the  gold  background.  Occasionally,  when 
the  very  subject  of  the  picture  imperatively 
demanded  it,  bits  of  real  landscape  appear. 
Thus  there  is  a  "  Virgin  in  the  Celestial  Garden," 
which  shows  a  real  garden,  set  about  with  walls, 
filled  with  plants  of  all  kinds ;  only  the  blue 
sky  is  missing. 

A  special  artistic  trick,  almost  peculiar  to  the 
Cologne  School,  tended  to  retard  the  natural 
progress  of  development  of  landscape  art.  The 
painters,  more  especially  when  they  depicted  one 
or  several  saints  in  full  figure,  stood  them  up 
in  a  row  on  a  stage,  as  it  were,  and  extended 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  29 

a  rich  curtain,  generally  made  of  some  brocaded 
stuffs,  behind  them.  This,  going  up  to  about 
the  height  of  the  shoulders,  set  off  the  figures 
most  effectively.  But  it  scarcely  left  any  room 
for  landscape.  And  yet,  landscape  will  not  be 
suppressed  ;  we  soon  find  it  forcing  its  way  in 
between  the  upper  edge  of  the  curtain  and  the 
unavoidable  gold-sky  background. 

This  gold  -  sky  background  is  another  pecu- 
liarity of  the  Cologne  School.  It  seems  to  have 
been  the  main  stronghold  of  tradition  in  art 
there.  It  is  common  everywhere  in  the  early 
stages  of  painting.  But  it  falls  into  desuetude 
with  the  other  schools  as  soon  as  the  skill  of 
the  artists  suffices  for  an  attempt  at  more  realistic 
delineation.  In  Cologne  even  the  Master  of  the 
Life  of  the  Virgin,  who  is  plainly  a  follower  if 
not  a  pupil  of  Dirk  Bouts,  abides  by  the  gold- 
sky  background,  though  his  prototype  does 
not  retain  it  any  longer  and  he  himself  is  quite 
realistic  in  the  whole  of  his  landscape  art 
excepting  this  one  feature,  the  sky. 

The  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  has  intro- 
duced, as  we  have  seen,  several  new  traits  into 
the  Colognese  School  ;  his  Netherlandish  types, 
his  sobriety  of  tone,  his  realism  in  general  con- 
ception and  in  landscape  particularly.  Another 


30    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

novelty  is  a  tendency  to  psychology  in  art. 
There  is  a  "  Christ  Crucified  "  in  the  Cologne 
Museum  by  him  which  goes  far  beyond  any- 
thing that  previous  Colognese  art  can  display. 
The  customary  arrangement  of  placing  the  Cross 
in  the  middle,  Mary  on  Christ's  right-hand  side, 
St.  John  on  the  other,  Magdalene  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross,  has  been  departed  from.  The  Christ 
Crucified  is  at  the  right  side  of  the  picture,  and 
Magdalene  kneeling  beyond  it.  Mary  stands  to 
the  left,  and  beyond  her  is  St.  John  supporting 
her.  These  are  distinctly  types  that  predict 
the  spirit  of  the  reformation.  This  is  the  St. 
John  of  the  fourth,  not  of  the  first  or  second 
or  third  Gospel.  The  artist  plainly  attempts 
to  betray  in  the  faces  of  the  people  whom  he 
has  painted  what  is  passing  in  their  minds, 
in  quite  a  different  manner  from  his  prede- 
cessors. In  fact,  his  attempt  touches  upon  the 
highest  stage  of  devotional  art  of  all  times. 
For  he  wishes  to  portray  a  St.  John  moved 
by  the  sensations  and  sentiments  that  he  would 
have  had,  had  he  lived  in  the  artist's  own 
day ! 

The  same  desire  to  offer  in  his  panel  some- 
thing more  than  a  simple  delight  for  the  eye 
is  likewise   apparent   in   other  works  by  this 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  31 

master,  especially  the  "  Madonna  with  St.  Ber- 
nard." This  picture  marks  one  more  novelty 
introduced  by  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary 
into  the  Colognese  School.  It  shows  half  lengths 
before  a  sort  of  balustrade.  In  this  arrangement 
the  figures  have  about  them  the  realism  of  a 
portrait  group. 

The  Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship  may,  in  a 
way,  be  considered  to  have  taken  up  the  style 
of  the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary.  He,  again, 
has  studied  and  learnt  abroad  ;  consequently  he 
displays  in  some  directions  a  novel  character. 
His  prototypes  are  the  painters  of  the  southern 
Flemish  Lowlands — for  example,  Gerhard  David 
and  the  painters  of  Antwerp.  But,  like  all  the 
others,  he  turns  distinctly  Colognese,  as  soon  as 
ever  he  reaches  the  town.  The  manner  of  his 
continuing  in  the  tracks  of  the  Master  of  the 
Life  of  Mary  consists  in  his  adoption  of  a 
similar  sobriety  of  conception.  If  we  may  say 
that  Lochner  lived  in  heavenly  spheres,  and 
the  Master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  came  down  to 
the  plain  matter-of-fact  world,  we  may  further 
characterise  the  Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship 
as  having  become  the  painter  of  the  middle  class. 
There  is  little  variation  in  his  types,  and  he 
imbues  them  with  those  virtues  or  characteristics 


32    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

which  give  them  the  air  of  high  respectability 
so  dear  to  middle-class  life.  They  are  exceed- 
ingly proper — they  all  have  their  best  apparel 
on,  and  they  are  careful  of  it ;  in  other  words, 
a  little  awkward  and  stiff  in  proportion.  His 
coloration  is  roseate,  again,  and  distinctively 
pretty ;  he  paints  well,  and  is  a  skilled  technician. 
But  his  gamut  of  colours  is  limited,  and  purely 
artistic  motives  do  not  govern  his  work  to  the 
same  degree  as  they  governed  a  genius  like  Stephen 
Lochner.  The  principal  piece  by  this  master, 
the  picture  from  which  he  derives  his  name, 
shows  the  kinship  of  the  Saviour  seated  amidst 
the  columns  of  an  unreal  bit  of  architecture. 
Mary  and  St.  Anne,  seated  on  a  throne  in  the 
middle,  hold  the  Christ-child  between  them  ;  it 
extends  its  right  hand  over  to  St.  Catherine, 
about  to  solemnise  the  mystic  marriage.  Joachim 
and  Joseph,  St.  Barbara,  St.  Mary  Cleophas,  and 
all  the  rest  are  placed  round  about  rather  stiffly ; 
they  all  "  look  well,"  but  they  do  not  introduce 
any  action  into  the  picture.  An  altar-piece  with 
"  Scenes  from  the  Legend  of  St.  Sebastian  "  (like 
the  kinship  altar,  now  in  the  Museum  of 
Cologne),  a  "  Crucifixion  "  at  Nuremberg,  and  an 
altar  with  "Scenes  from  the  Life  of  the  Christ- 
child  "  at  Munich,  are  other  important  works  by 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  33 

this  master.  He  is,  besides,  the  author  of  the 
three  splendid  stained-glass  windows  in  the  north 
aisle  of  the  Cologne  Cathedral. 

One  of  the  strangest  artists  of  the  school  is 
the  Master  of  St.  Bartholomew.  He  is  one  of 
the  earliest  specimens  on  record  of  the  type 
which  we  now  call  decadent  and  a  mannerist.  In 
an  age  where  we  find  every  other  artist  singularly 
naYve  and  simple,  he  alone  is  of  a  reflective — one 
might  be  tempted  to  say  scheming — turn  of  mind, 
and  there  is  an  air  of  disingenuous  affectation 
about  his  work.  With  all  that  he  is  an  ex- 
tremely intelligent  artist,  a  most  conscientious 
craftsman,  and  a  singularly  interesting  personality. 
Judging  from  the  looks  of  his  figures,  and  from 
the  fact  that  he  often  falls  back  upon  Schongauer 
for  his  compositions,  we  may  safely  conclude 
that  he  hails  from  Suabia  or  the  Upper  Rhine. 
One  of  his  principal  paintings,  "The  Altar  of 
the  Crucifixion,"  was  painted  round  about  the 
year  1501  for  the  Odasum  of  the  Carthusian 
Church  at  Cologne.  Another,  "  The  St.  Thomas 
Altar-piece,"  was  painted  for  the  same  place  about 
fifteen  years  earlier.  For  the  latter  piece  he  was 
paid  the  comparatively  large  sum  of  250  gold 
florins,  which  shows  that  he  had  established  a 

high  reputation  as  early  as  the  year  1485.  This 

c 


34    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

is  the  limit  of  the  information  we  get  out  of 
the  archives  about  him. 

If  the  Master  of  the  Kinship  Altar  was  the 
painter  of  the  stolid  middle  class  in  Cologne,  the 
Master  of  St.  Bartholomew  seems  to  have  been 
the  painter  of  high  life.  His  types  are  more 
refined,  more  intellectual  than  those  of  the  other 
master ;  but  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  there  seems  to  have  been  among  the 
upper  class  a  sort  of  hyper-aesthetic  circle  which 
embraced  all  the  hysterical,  overstrained  women 
and  the  mysteriously  deep  poets — in  short,  a  club 
of  Bunthornes  and  the  "  new  women  "  of  that  day. 
This  is  the  set  the  Master  of  St.  Bartholomew 
paints ;  but  he  does  not  satirise  them — he  takes 
them  seriously.  All  his  biblical  scenes  and  mar- 
tyrdoms look  as  if  they  had  been  done  from  the 
private  theatricals  of  this  company.  The  amateur 
actors  flirt  with  the  audience  and  with  each  other. 
The  ladies,  ail  full  round  faces  with  straight 
noses  and  tiny  mouths,  smile  nervously  and  self- 
consciously, or  they  weep  hysterically.  There 
is  no  end  of  affectation  in  their  bearing  and  in 
the  strained  gestures  of  the  spidery  fingered 
hands.  The  Magdalen  in  the  "  Descent  from 
the  Cross "  (now  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris)  sup- 
ports the  left  foot  of  the  dead  Christ  with  her 


Master  o/St.  Bartholomew  Elsntr  &  Spieckerman 

THE  DESCENT  FROM  THE  CROSS 
(  Cologne) 


i 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  35 

right  hand,  brings  up  her  left  to  her  breast, 
achieving  all  with  a  most  elegant  pose,  and 
looking  out  upon  us  with  a  degree  of  vivid 
realism  that  is  really  astonishing  ;  she  plainly  begs 
for  our  applause.  On  the  "  Crucifixion  "  now 
in  the  Museum  at  Cologne,  St.  John  carries  his 
hand  with  a  gesture  of  wild  despair  to  his  head, 
but  by  the  time  it  has  reached  it  he  seems  only 
to  be  trying  whether  his  wig  sits  firmly.  The 
saints  do  not  stand  orderly  in  rows  side  by  side, 
as  they  used  to.  But  on  the  left  shutter  of  this 
same  "  Crucifixion  n  St.  Cecilia  is  leaning  over  to 
the  Baptist,  evidently  to  whisper  some  medisance 
to  him  (for  she  is  smiling),  while  the  others  are 
acting  the  principal  scene  ;  and  on  the  other 
wing,  he  who  is  impersonating  St.  Alexius  casts 
a  most  sentimental  look  of  love  at  the  charming 
St.  Agnes.  It  is  ten  to  one  that,  when  this  affair 
with  all  its  rehearsals,  &c,  is  over,  there  will  be 
an  engagement.  On  the  St.  Thomas  altar  the 
Saviour  steps  out  of  the  clouds  on  to  a  marble 
pediment  with  the  air  of  a  favourite  tenor;  and 
he  looks  sleek  and  well  fed  and  altogether  too 
handsome,  the  very  picture  of  a  tenor — one  of 
those  who  were  most  wildly  adored. 

All  the  "  costumes  " — one  cannot  help  using 
the  expression — are  most  elaborate  and  beautiful. 


36    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

There  are  magnificent  silks  and  brocades,  and  a 
mass  of  exquisite  jewellery,  which  the  master 
paints  most  painstakingly,  with  evident  delight 
in  the  work.  His  drawing  and  perspective,  like- 
wise his  coloration,  place  him  in  the  front  rank 
of  the  School.  Yet  he,  too,  abides  by  the  gold 
background ;  his  tendency  towards  realism  draws 
the  line  at  that. 

Though  the  Master  of  the  St.  Bartholomew — 
so  called,  by  the  way,  after  a  fine  triptych,  now 
in  the  Munich  Gallery,  representing  six  saints  to 
the  right  and  left  of  St.  Bartholomew,  all  full 
figures  standing  in  a  row  before  a  brocaded  cur- 
tain— is  an  anomaly  in  so  far  as  he  paints  reli- 
gious subjects  in  an  altogether  irreligious  vein ; 
though,  then,  he  may  not  be  ranked  as  an  artist 
possessing  propriety  of  conception,  his  virtues 
in  other  respects  are  manifold  enough,  as  has 
already  been  indicated.  He  is  certainly  more 
interesting,  and  more  of  an  out-of-the-way  per- 
sonality than  the  last  important  artist  of  the 
Colognese  School,  Barthel  Bruyn  the  elder. 

Bruyn  was  a  native  of  Wesel,  where  he  was 
born  in  1493.  He  must  have  been  a  pupil  of 
Jan  Joest  of  Kalkar,  and  turned  up  at  Cologne  in 
15 13.  He  was  a  painter  of  recognised  standing 
in  this  town  by  the  year  1521.    With  his  wife 


THE  EARLY  MASTERS  37 

Agnes  he  obtained,  in  the  year  1533,  possession  of 
the  very  same  house  in  which  Stephen  Lochner 
lived  a  century  earlier.  In  1550  his  wife  Agnes, 
who  had  borne  him  five  children,  died  ;  two  of 
the  sons,  Arnold  and  Barthel  the  younger, 
adopted  the  profession  of  their  father,  who  died 
in  1555.  Bruyn  had  been  elected  councillor  in 
1 549  and  in  1 552.  In  1529  his  reputation  was  so 
well  established  that  he  received  orders  from 
abroad,  notably  for  a  big  altar-piece  for  the 
Church  of  St.  Victor  at  Xanthen.  He  was  much 
sought  after  as  a  painter  of  portraits. 

From  these  dates  it  appears  that  Bruyn  can 
have  very  little  connection  with  the  School  as 
it  has  been  described  so  far.  One  would  pro- 
bably not  think  of  connecting  him  with  it  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  with  him  painting  at 
Cologne  virtually  stops.  He  is  a  post-Dilrerian 
artist — a  man  who,  of  course,  no  longer  uses  the 
gold  background.  Bruyn  is  an  able  craftsman ; 
more  can  scarcely  be  said  of  him,  except  with 
reference  to  his  portraits.  Some  of  these — for 
example,  the  "  Burgomaster  Arnold  von  Brau- 
weiler"  in  the  Museum  of  Cologne — are  really 
excellent.  It  speaks  well  for  his  work  that  much 
of  it  has  been  taken  for  that  of  Holbein.  His 
coloration  is  somewhat  cheerless,  and  the  general 


38    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

tone  of  his  work  is  pessimistic — not  so  buoyant 
and  interesting  as  that  of  the  painters  previously 
treated.  The  flame  which  was  lighted  up  so 
gloriously  at  Cologne  has  died  out,  and  its  last 
flickering  is  represented  by  Bruyn's  work. 


CHAPTER  II 


MARTIN  SCHONGAUER 

"Just  as  it  would  be  unfair  to  despise  spring 
sources,  on  account  of  their  not  having  as  much 
water  as  the  creeks  that  issue  from  them  and 
steadily  increase  as  they  progress,  so  it  would  be 
an  unfair  thing  if  one  should  allow  the  fame 
of  the  excellent  artist,  Martin  Schoen  of 
Kallenbach,  quite  to  suppress  the  masters  pre- 
viously considered.  He  hailed  the  light  of  day 
for  the  first  time  in  Kallenbach,  and  then  graced 
Kolmar  with  his  residence ;  he  was  commonly 
called  '  handsome  Martin/  It  is,  indeed,  quite 
certain  that  he  surpassed  all  his  predecessors 
throughout  Germany  as  to  draughtsmanship, 
painting,  and  engraving  upon  copper,  but  he 
himself,  out  of  natural  modesty,  readily  granted 
them  the  fame  of  having  been  his  preceptors. 

"  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Pietro  Peru- 
gino,  and  each  frequently  delighted  the  other 
by  sending  some  original  drawing,  and  profited 
by  the  other's  art,  as  connoisseurs  may  readily 

39 


4o    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

glean  from  a  perusal  of  their  work.  Beyond 
that,  indeed,  they  resembled  each  other  in  so 
much  as  Italy  owes  her  perfection  in  the 
noble  art  of  painting  to  the  famous  school  of 
its  Pietro  Perugino  and  the  Raffaello  d'Urbino 
issuing  therefrom,  and  Germany,  at  that  time 
still  pretty  much  of  a  pauper  as  to  art,  owes 
its  enrichment  to  Schongauer. 

"  Very  few  of  the  works  of  this  gifted  hand 
are  still  to  be  seen,  yet  such  as  have  been  handed 
down  to  us — a  very  trim  picture  of  '  Mary,'  an 
excessively  lamentable  '  Christ  Carrying  the  Cross,' 
the  well-devised  '  Magi,'  and  the  all  but  perfect 
'  Temptation  of  Saint  Anthony '  (which  Michel- 
angelo frequently  copied  in  his  younger  years, 
and  never  grew  tired  of  praising),  among  them — 
prove  what  a  master-mind  this  artist  was  as  to 
composition  and  draughtsmanship.  Consequently 
it  is  quite  right  that  we  should  enter  his  name 
in  the  book  of  eternity,  although  his  hand  had 
to  waste  away  after  the  heart  had  received  the 
death-blow  from  the  insatiable  reaper  of  men, 
as  early  as  i486,  in  which  year  Dtirer  travelled 
to  him  in  order  to  learn  his  art." 

To  this  we  may  add  the  words  of  Vasari,  who 
says  in  his  "  Life  of  Raimondi  "  that  the  engravings 
of  "  Martino  of  Antwerp  "  were  introduced  into 


MARTIN  SCHONGAUER  41 

Italy  in  great  numbers.  "The  first  were  the 
*  Five  Foolish  and  the  Five  Wise  Virgins '  with 
their  burning  and  their  extinguished  lamps ;  a 
4  Christ  upon  the  Cross,'  with  St.  John  and  the 
Madonna  at  his  feet — an  engraving,  so  good, 
that  the  Florentine  miniature-painter,  Gherardo, 
undertook  to  copy  it  with  the  burin,  and  suc- 
ceeded very  well  too  as  far  as  he  went,  though 
he  could  not  finish  it,  death  intervening. 

44  Martino  then  issued  four  rounds  with  the 
Evangelists,  and  on  small  sheets  Christ  and  the 
twelve  Apostles  ;  then  St.  Veronica,  with  six  other 
Saints  of  the  same  size,  and  some  coats  of  arms 
of  German  gentry,  supported  partly  by  clothed, 
partly  by  nude  men  and  women.  In  the  same 
manner  he  issued  a  4  St.  George  Slaying  the 
Dragon ' ;  4  Christ  before  Pilate  washing  his 
Hands ' ;  and  the  4  Ascension  of  the  Virgin,' 
rather  large,  with  all  the  Apostles,  and  this  is 
one  of  the  best  prints  of  this  master.  Upon 
another  sheet  he  represented  4  St.  Anthony,' 
tortured  by  devils  and  borne  by  numbers  of 
them  up  into  the  air,  the  most  variegated  and 
strangest  shapes,  which  delighted  Michelangelo  " 
(Buonarroti)  44  in  his  youth  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  illuminated  them." 

With  regard  to  this  last  statement  Condivi 


42    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

reports  that  Michelangelo  went  so  far  as  to 
execute  a  careful  copy  in  oils  of  Schongauer's 
engraving,  and  did  not  undertake  the  colour- 
ing without  making  conscientious  studies  from 
nature  on  the  fish  market. 

The  Schongauers  hailed  originally  from  the 
village  of  Schongau,  in  Upper  Bavaria,  and 
settled  in  Augsburg.  Caspar,  a  goldsmith, 
migrated  thence  to  Colmar,  where  he  became  a 
citizen  on  the  29th  of  May  1445.  He  had  five 
sons.  Three  of  them  were  goldsmiths,  Caspar  the 
younger,  George,  and  Paul ;  two  of  them  turned 
painters,  Ludwig  and  our  Martin  Schongauer,  the 
most  important  German  artist  during  the  second 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Caspar  must  have  come  to  Colmar  about  the 
year  1440,  for  in  the  very  same  year  in  which 
he  acquired  citizenship  he  also  became  a  member 
of  the  Council,  and  that  always  presupposed  a 
residence  of  at  least  five  years.  Caspar  owned 
a  house  in  the  Schadel  Gasse,  or  Skull  Street,  a 
quarter  frequented  by  artists ;  he  often  executed 
goldsmith's  work  for  the  town,  and  he  is  men- 
tioned in  one  document  as  being  still  alive  in 
the  year  148 1. 

The  documents  are,  however,  somewhat  con- 
fusing, and  many  of  those  referring   to  the 


MARTIN  SCHONGAUER  43 

Schongauers  have  been  tampered  with.  Our 
Martin  is  mentioned  as  a  house-owner  in  the 
Schadel  Gasse  as  early  as  1469,  and  this  seems 
to  clash  with  the  above  date  of  his  father's 
death. 

Schongauer  was  also  known  by  the  sobriquet 
"Schon"  or  "Schcm",  which  was  not  an  abbre- 
viation of  his  name,  but  used  in  the  sense  of 
M  beautiful,"  as  appears  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  alternative  "Hiibsch,"  "  Hipsch  Martin," 
was  sometimes  used.  Hans  Burgkmair  painted 
a  copy  of  Schongauer's  self-portrait,  and  pasted 
a  slip  of  paper  on  the  back  of  the  panel,  on 
which  he  wrote,  "  Master  Martin  Schongauer, 
painter,  called  beautiful  Martin  on  account  of 
his  craft."  He  further  states  the  name  of 
Martin's  father  correctly,  says  that  he  came  of 
an  Augsburg  family,  and  cites  Colmar  as  his 
birthplace,  also  stating  the  date  of  his  death; 
this,  however,  has  been  partly  obliterated  in 
course  of  time. 

It  is  fairly  certain  that  our  Martin  Schongauer 
was  born  at  Colmar  between  1440  and  1450, 
probably  after  1445.  He  was  his  father  s  pupil, 
seems  further  to  have  studied  under  one  L.  Rust, 
and  also,  if  we  may  believe  Lambert  Lombard, 
under  Rogier  van  den  Weijden.    Lambert  wrote 


44    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

to  Vasari :  "  In  Germany  an  engraver  appeared 
at  that  time,  who  remained  true  to  the  manner 
of  his  master,  Rogier,  but  did  not  quite  attain 
to  this  one's  excellence  of  coloration.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  acquired  greater  facility  in  his 
engravings,  which  were  marvellous  for  their  time, 
and,  for  that  matter,  they  are  esteemed  highly 
enough  by  our  educated  artists  to-day,  since  their 
workmanship  is  perhaps  a  trifle  archaic  and  stiff, 
yet  otherwise  right  brave.'' 

In  the  year  1465  Schongauer  visited  Leipsic, 
where  he  was  matriculated  at  the  university. 
Four  years  later  he  is  registered  as  the  owner 
of  the  house  in  the  Schadel  Street.  In  1477  he 
was  probably  at  the  zenith  of  his  fame,  and 
bought  other  houses.  In  the  year  1488  he  most 
likely  fell  ill,  and  consequently  founded  a  mass 
for  his  soul,  to  be  held  annually  in  the  church 
of  St.  Martin.  In  the  following  year  he  can  be 
traced  at  Basle  on  the  15th  of  June;  it  is 
supposed,  however,  that  he  had  worked  in  this 
town  before.  Then,  in  1489,  he  became  a  citizen 
of  Breisach,  where  he  died  on  the  2nd  of 
February  1491,  probably  of  the  plague.  This 
much,  or  rather  this  little,  is  the  limit  of  our 
knowledge  regarding  Martin  Schongauer's  life. 
We  know  of  copies  of  Schongauer's  paintings, 


MARTIN  SCHONGAUER  45 

which  are  dated  1477,  1481,  1482,  1485,  but 
none  of  his  own  paintings  were  dated,  nor  is  a 
single  one  among  them  really  authenticated.  His 
engravings  are  signed  with  his  monogram  and 
mark,  but  none  of  these  either  is  dated. 

Wimpheling,  a  Strassburg  compatriot  and 
humanist,  writing  in  1505,  about  fifteen  years 
after  Schongauer's  death,  reports  about  him : 
"  He  was  so  excellent  in  his  art  that  his  easel 
paintings  were  carried  to  Italy,  Spain,  France, 
England,  and  other  parts  of  the  world."  To- 
day very  little  of  all  this  work  is  extant ;  even 
Colmar  possesses  not  much.  Wimpheling  speaks 
of  paintings  in  the  churches  of  St.  Martin 
and  St.  Francis ;  but  the  Renaissance,  and  more 
especially  the  eighteenth  century,  did  not  cherish 
old  "Gothic"  art,  and  such  as  may  have  been 
spared  until  then  suffered  during  the  years  of 
the  French  Revolution.  It  is  reported  that  in 
1796  many  works  of  art,  some  Schongauers 
among  them,  were  trampled  upon  and  publicly 
burnt  in  the  market-place  of  Miinster,  near 
Colmar. 

The  church  of  St.  Martin  in  this  town,  how- 
ever, still  harbours  the  altar-piece  which  has 
always  been  considered  the  Schongauer.  It  is  a 
"Madonna  in  the  Rose-bower."    The  Virgin, 


46    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

seated,  supports  the  naked  Christ-child  upon  her 
left  arm.  She  is  dressed  in  red,  both  she  and  the 
Christ-child  look  down  upon  us,  but  in  various 
directions.  Many-coloured  birds  enliven  the  rose- 
bushes which  hedge  in  the  place  where  the 
Virgin  is  seated.  Angels  above  her  hold  a 
crown  over  her  head.  God  the  Father  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  formerly  hovered  above  her,  but 
this  part  of  the  panel  has  been  lost.  The  figure 
of  the  Virgin  is  above  life-size ;  the  whole  was 
painted  upon  a  gold  background ;  the  colora- 
tion is  lustrous  yet  harmonious. 

There  are  a  number  of  paintings  ascribed  to 
Schongauer  in  the  Museum  at  Colmar,  among 
which  prominence  should  be  given  to  the  wings 
of  an  altar-piece,  formerly  at  Isenheim,  and  a 
set  of  sixteen  scenes  from  the  story  of  the  Passion, 
formerly  in  the  Church  of  the  Dominicans  at 
Colmar.  Yet  it  is  very  likely  that  none  of  them 
were  painted  entirely  by  his  hand.  Nor  can  any 
of  the  other  paintings,  ascribed  here  and  there 
to  Schongauer,  be  regarded  as  more  than  the 
productions  of  his  studio.  They  probably  owe 
their  composition  to  his  idea,  but  very  little  of 
them  did  he  execute  himself.  Such  are  a  beauti- 
ful little  ' '  Madonna  with  Grapes"  in  the  Gallery 
at  Vienna,  a  small  "  Nativity "  in  the  Gallery 


Sttfhtn  Lochntr  Eisner  &  Spieckerman 

MADONNA  IN  THE  ROSE  BOWER 
{Cologne) 


MARTIN  SCHONGAUER  47 

at  Munich,  one  of  the  panels  that  came  to 
Munich  from  the  old  Palatinate  Collection  at 
Mannheim,  and  another  "Nativity,"  somewhat 
loud  in  its  coloration,  and  with  rather  less  founded 
claims  to  be  considered  authentic,  now  in  the 
Berlin  Gallery. 

Considering  the  dearth  of  paintings  still  extant, 
the  existence  of  more  than  a  hundred  engrav- 
ings on  copper  by  Schongauer  is  to  be  doubly 
welcomed.  Not  only  do  they  allow  us  to  form 
a  good  idea  of  the  style  of  his  art,  they  embody — 
it  may  safely  be  assumed — the  most  important 
part  of  his  work  as  an  artist. 

A  German  predecessor  of  Schongauer,  whose 
name  has  not  been  handed  down  to  us,  but 
whom  we  call  the  Master  "E  S from  the 
monogram  with  which  some  of  his  plates  are 
signed,  was  the  engraver  who  raised  the  art  of 
the  burin,  technically  speaking,  from  its  infancy 
to  its  stage  of  maturity.  He  lived  at  Strassburg 
probably,  and,  since  this  is  not  far  from  Colmar, 
we  may  well  assume  that  Schongauer  was  actually 
his  pupil  as  far  as  engraving  is  concerned.  At 
any  rate,  he  acquired  his  craft  through  the  study 
of  the  Master  "E  S's "  plates,  if  he  did  not 
learn  under  him  personally.  Whereas  the  Master 
"  E  S "  was  the  one  to  establish  engraving  as 


48    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

a  fine  craft,  Schongauer  was  the  man  to  raise 
it  to  the  state  of  a  noble  art,  and  through  his 
work  it  had  become  a  perfect  peer  of  the  arts 
of  painting  and  sculpture. 

Schongauer's  plates  reveal  qualities  at  once 
mystical  and  realistic.  He  engraved  religious 
subjects,  a  few  scenes  from  everyday  life,  some 
heraldic  designs  and  ornaments — the  time  for 
mythological  themes  and  allegories  with  nude 
figures  had  not  yet  come.  His  quiet,  sweetly 
charming  Madonna  is  a  noble  type,  an  idealisa- 
tion of  nature  reflecting  a  deep  and  earnest 
mind.  44 The  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony" — the 
plate  which  excited  the  admiration  of  Michel- 
angelo— offers  a  curious  instance  of  realistic 
study.  The  saint  is  beset  and  tortured  by 
diabolical  figures,  each  of  which  is  pieced  together 
out  of  various  fragments  or  organs  of  different 
animals.  The  chimeras  thus  created  are  quite 
fantastic,  but  the  single  members  of  each  have, 
most  of  them,  been  accurately  studied  from  nature. 
This  is  a  print  which  embodies  the  spirit  of  the 
century.  Schongauer's  contemporaries  and  suc- 
cessors came  to  accept  his  treatment  of  the 
subject  as  their  own,  and  his  conceptions  reigned 
supreme  for  many  years  to  come.  The  "  Carrying 
of  the  Cross  by  Christ,"  on  His  way  to  Golgotha, 


MARTIN  SCHONGAUER  49 

is  another  instance  of  his  vaticinal  gift,  to  divine 
the  yearning  of  his  age  and  embody  it  in  a 
form  which  was  to  be  accepted  as  a  standard 
for  generations  to  come.  The  last-named  com- 
position was  imitated  again  and  again,  and  it 
was  a  canon  for  even  so  independent  a  spirit 
as  that  of  Albrecht  Diirer's. 

The  set  of  plates  illustrating  "  The  Passion 
of  Our  Saviour  "  give  evidence  of  Schongauer s 
rich  powers  of  imagination.  He  was  never  at 
a  loss  for  a  vivid  presentation  of  the  incidents 
of  each  theme,  and  many  items  which,  in  the 
art  of  the  age  before  him,  were  mere  abstractions, 
were  infused  by  his  genius  with  life  and  veri- 
similitude. Thus,  for  instance,  the  tormentors 
of  Christ,  who  scourge  Him  and  crown  Him 
with  thorns,  are  almost  ludicrous  caricatures 
in  the  treatment  of  German  artists  prior  to 
Schongauer,  because  of  these  masters'  inability 
truly  to  characterise  villainy.  Schongauer,  with 
too  much  realistic  feeling  and  too  much  sagacity 
to  exaggerate,  became  convincing  and  forceful. 
He  is  symbolical,  as  it  were,  of  the  liberation 
of  Cisalpine  art  from  its  period  of  subjection. 
True  genius  and  personality  in  the  fine  art, 
had  lived  and  worked  before  him;  but,  in  the 
economy  of  the  world,  it  had  appeared  to  be  so 

D 


So    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

small  a  thing  that  all  individuality  and  every 
name  had  been  submerged  in  the  general  flow 
of  progress.  Schongauer  is  the  earliest  name  in 
the  annals  of  Cisalpine  art,  the  first  artist  whom 
even  contemporaries  esteemed  so  highly  that 
they  agreed  to  preserve  his  memory  along  with 
that  of  other  men  who  had  achieved  fame  upon 
other  fields  of  human  activity. 


CHAPTER  III 


ALBRECHT  DURER 

On  the  25th  day  of  June,  in  the  year  1455, 
Philipp  Pirkheimer  celebrated  his  wedding  with 
much  splendour  and  gaiety  up  at  the  Castle  in 
Nuremberg.  While  the  dancing  and  festivities 
were  at  their  highest,  a  poor,  weary  mechanic,  or 
rather  craftsman,  entered  the  town  with  the  pur- 
pose of  settling  there,  and  became  a  looker-on. 
Neither  he  nor  the  bridegroom  knew  or  imagined, 
of  course,  that  a  descendant  of  each  of  them 
would  once  become  famous  citizens  of  Nurem- 
berg— famous  for  their  achievements  each  in  his 
line,  and  famous  for  their  mutual  friendship. 

The  artisan  was  Albrecht  Dttrer  the  elder,  a 
goldsmith  hailing  from  the  German  colony  in 
the  far  east,  in  Hungary,  who  had  just  completed 
his  pilgrimage  through  Germany,  and  especially 
the  Netherlands.  There  he  had  improved  his 
craft  under  the  guidance  of  well-known  masters, 
and  had  come  now  to  settle  down  in  the  Fran- 


52    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

conian  capital.  He  served  Jerome  Holper  here 
for  many  a  year,  until  Holper  gave  him  his 
daughter  Barbara  in  marriage  ;  this  was  in  the 
year  1467.  They  had  no  less  than  eighteen 
children,  among  whom  Albrecht,  the  great  artist, 
was  the  third,  born  on  the  21st  of  May  147 1. 
At  his  baptism  Anthony  Koberger,  the  famous 
printer,  acted  as  sponsor.  Only  three  boys  out 
of  all  the  eighteen  children  reached  maturity. 
Hans  became  a  painter,  pupil  of  Wohlgemuth 
and  his  brother  Albrecht,  and  was  finally  court- 
painter  to  the  King  of  Poland  at  Cracow.  Andrew 
was  a  goldsmith  like  his  father,  lived  for  a 
time  in  Nuremberg,  and  finally  went  to  Cracow 
upon  the  death  of  his  brother  Hans,  whose  affairs 
he  regulated. 

Albrecht  the  younger,  our  Albrecht,  was  a 
most  affectionate  son,  and  upon  all  occasions  he 
is  full  of  gratitude  to  his  father,  and  sounds  the 
praise  of  his  probity.  His  life,  he  says,  was  one 
of  trials  and  tribulations  throughout,  but  he 
never  made  an  enemy,  and  never  swerved  an 
inch  from  the  straight  path  of  righteousness  and 
piety.  Twice,  at  least,  Albrecht  the  younger 
furnished  a  material  proof  of  his  filial  love  in 
the  shape  of  carefully  painted  portraits  of  his 
father.    The  expression  of  his  emotions  towards 


ALBRECHT  DURER  53 

his  old  mother  were  not  less  sincere,  though  they 
may  be  called  a  shade  less  warm.  When  she 
had  become  a  widow,  and  penniless,  he  took  her 
to  his  own  home  and  cherished  her  for  ten  years 
until  her  death.  She  lay  ill  in  bed  in  his  house 
for  exactly  a  year,  and  it  broke  his  heart  that, 
when  she  did  die  finally,  it  happened  so  suddenly 
that  he  could  not  be  called  in  time  to  solace  her 
and  receive  her  final  blessing.  He  made  a 
drawing  of  her  when  she  was  old  and  already 
approaching  death,  but  it  appears  that  he  never 
painted  her. 

Albrecht  the  goldsmith,  says  his  son,  was 
intent  upon  bringing  up  his  children  in  the  fear 
of  God,  so  that  they  should  be  placable  and 
pleasant  to  their  fellow-men.  His  daily  admoni- 
tion— one  which  the  widow  Barbara  continued 
long  after  the  sons  were  grown  up — was  that 
they  should  love  God  and  act  faithfully  towards 
their  neighbours.  He  took  a  particular  delight 
in  our  Albrecht,  as  he  noticed  how  diligent  and 
eager  for  knowledge  the  lad  was.  So  he  allowed 
him  to  attend  school,  and,  after  Albrecht  the 
younger  had  learned  to  read  and  write,  he  was 
taught  the  goldsmith's  craft.  Being  industrious 
in  this,  too,  he  was  after  a  while  able  to  execute 
neat  work  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  discovered 


54    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

that  his  inclination  lay  in  another  direction — 
towards  the  art  of  painting. 

Several  drawings  gave  evidence  of  Diirer' s  pre- 
cocity. The  most  famous  among  them  is  the 
strangely  grave  portrait  of  himself  done  at  the 
age  of  thirteen,  upon  which  he  scribbled  on  a 
later  day  :  "  I  portrayed  this  after  my  own  image 
in  a  glass  in  the  year  1484,  when  I  was  still  a 
child."  Another  is  a  sketch,  probably  of  one 
of  the  Wise  Virgins,  very  likely  copied  from  an 
old  print,  upon  which  the  quondam  owner  wrote: 
"  This  is  also  old.  Albrecht  Diirer  made  it  for 
me,  before  he  came  to  the  painter,  in  Wohlge- 
muth's  house  in  the  upper  attic  of  the  rear  build- 
ing, in  presence  of  Conrad  Lomayer,  defunct." 

When  young  Diirer  communicated  his  wish  to 
his  father,  the  latter  was  naturally  in  nowise  de- 
lighted, for  he  regretted  the  waste  of  time  which 
had  been  spent  upon  learning  the  goldsmith's  craft. 
However,  he  assented  in  the  end,  and  apprenticed 
his  son,  on  the  30th  of  November  i486,  to  Michael 
Wohlgemuth  for  a  term  of  service  to  last  three 
years.  Diirer  was  industrious  again,  and  he 
learnt  well.  He  further  says  something  about 
this  period,  the  phrasing  of  which  may  possibly 
be  construed  to  mean  that  he  was  much  left  to 
the  care  of  Wohlgemuth's  men  (i.e.  that  Wohl- 


ALBRECHT  DURER  55 

gemuth  himself  did  not  trouble  much  about 
him),  though  it  is  more  likely  that  he  simply 
wants  to  say  that  he  suffered  a  good  deal  at  the 
hands  of  Wohlgemuth^  men,  who  were  his 
elders  and  treated  him  roughly.  After  his  term 
of  service  had  expired,  Dttrer  was  sent  abroad  by 
his  father,  as  was  the  custom  of  those  days. 

His  first  goal  was  Colmar  and  Martin  Schon- 
gauer,  whose  reputation  had  spread  all  over 
Germany.  But,  by  the  time  he  reached  Colmar, 
Martin  had  died.  Diirer  stayed  a  short  while 
with  Schongauer's  brothers,  and  he  also  went 
to  Basle.  How  long  he  remained  there  we  do 
not  know.  Diirer  fortunately  jotted  down  much 
about  his  life,  but  nothing  about  this  most  per- 
plexing period  of  his  prentice  peregrinations,  in 
which  we  should  have  been  especially  interested. 
Thus  it  happens  that  we  are  uncertain  about 
his  first  visit  to  Venice  and  Italy.  It  possibly 
occurred  in  the  course  of  these  early  travels. 
Some  contemporary  notices  and  dates  on  draw- 
ings, however,  seem  to  indicate  that  this  visit 
took  place  shortly  after  his  marriage. 

He  was  married  within  a  few  months  after 
his  return.  He  had  been  sent  abroad  by  his 
father  on  the  nth  of  April  1490,  and  had 
been  called    back    so    as    to    arrive   home  at 


56    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Nuremberg  on  the  18th  of  May  1494.  There- 
upon Hans  Frey  came  to  terms  with  Diirer's 
father,  and,  on  the  7th  of  July,  Frey's  daughter 
Agnes  was  given  in  marriage  to  our  Albrecht. 
Her  dowry  was  two  hundred  florins,  at  least  as 
much  as  so  many  pounds  in  our  day.  It  would 
have  been  rather  an  unusual  thing  for  him  to 
go  off  upon  another  journey,  straightway.  Yet, 
he  certainly  did  visit  Venice  before  the  year 
1495  was  over. 

Diirer  did  a  sympathetic  sketch  of  Agnes 
when  she  was  still  his  betrothed ;  but  his  draw- 
ings of  her  later  on  in  life,  as  his  wife,  are 
certainly  not  lovable  of  themselves,  nor  does  he 
seem  to  have  wasted  much  love  upon  them. 
She  certainly  had  something  forbidding  about 
her,  and  was  beyond  a  doubt  not  the  wife  of 
his  bosom.  Durer's  great  friend,  Willibald 
Pirkheimer,  who  was  referred  to  in  the  open- 
ing lines  of  this  chapter,  wrote  about  Agnes 
after  Durer's  death,  in  a  letter  to  a  mutual 
friend.  "I  have  received,"  he  says,  "your 
letter,  in  which  you  speak  so  nicely  of  me  and 
praise  me  much  more  than  I  feel  I  deserve ;  all 
of  which,  however,  I  will  lay  to  the  door  of 
our  dear  friend,  Albrecht  Diirer.  For  since 
you  loved  him  so  sincerely  for  his  virtues  and 


ALBRECHT  DURER  57 

his  genius,  you  doubtless  love  them  who  were  his 
friends,  and  to  his  friendship,  not  to  my  own 
deserts,  I  owe  your  praise.  Indeed,  in  Albrecht 
I  have  lost  the  very  best  friend  I  had  in  the 
world,  and  I  grieve  at  nothing  more  than  that 
he  should  have  had  such  a  bitter  end,  which  I 
can  lay  to  no  one's  account  but  that  of  his 
wife,  who  worried  his  heart  and  was  nagging 
at  him  in  such  wise,  that  in  the  end  he  was 
emaciated  and  worn  down  to  nothing,  like  a 
billet.  She  did  not  allow  him  to  seek  cheer,  or 
visit  people.  This  shrewish  woman  never  let 
care  depart,  for  which  behaviour  she  indeed  had 
no  excuse :  and  she  egged  him  on  to  work 
night  and  day,  that  he  should  earn  more  and 
be  able  to  leave  her  something  when  he  died. 
And  she  still  carries  on  as  if  she  must  go  to 
rack  and  ruin,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Albrecht 
left  her  almost  the  value  of  6000  florins.  But 
there  is  no  contentment  apparent,  and,  in  short, 
she  alone  is  the  cause  of  his  death.  I  myself 
often  held  up  her  distrust  to  her,  and  prophesied 
what  it  would  come  to  in  the  end ;  but  very 
little  thanks  I  got  for  my  pains.  For  whoever 
was  well  disposed  to  this  man  and  tried  to  pro- 
tect him,  he  was  deemed  an  enemy  by  her,  which 
greatly  sorrowed  Albrecht  and  hurried  him  to 


58    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

his  grave.  I  haven't  seen  her  since  his  death, 
and  haven't  admitted  her,  though  I  have  been 
of  use  to  her  since  in  many  ways.  But  she 
lacks  confidence,  and  whoever  upholds  his  own 
opinion,  and  doesn't  yield  to  her  in  all  points, 
him  she  suspects  and  his  enemy  does  she  become. 
Therefore,  I  would  much  rather  that  she  were 
far  away  from  me  than  in  my  neighbourhood. 
To  be  sure,  she  and  her  sisters  aren't  rogues ; 
on  the  contrary,  I  don't  in  the  least  doubt  that 
they  are  honest  and  pious  women.  But  it  were 
better  for  one  to  have  a  rogue,  who  in  other 
respects  is  kind  to  one,  rather  than  such  nagging 
and  scolding  pietists,  who  never  give  a  moment's 
peace,  night  or  day.  Be  that  as  it  may,  we  must 
rest  the  matter  with  the  Lord ;  may  He  be 
gracious  to  poor  Albrecht.  For  he  was  a  pious, 
righteous  man,  and  as  he  lived  so  he  died.  We 
need  not  fear  for  his  salvation.  May  God  grant 
us  grace  to  follow  him  into  bliss  when  our 
time  comes." 

Pirkheimer's  integrity  is  beyond  suspicion, 
though  he  may  have  coloured  matters  just  a 
little.  For  no  doubt  he  was  a  man  to  have  led 
Diirer  into  an  expense  occasionally,  which  Agnes 
might  well  look  upon  as  an  extravagance  in  their 
state  of  life.     And,  again,  he  will  surely  have 


ALBRECHT  DURER  59 

encouraged  Diirer  in  the  pursuit  of  his  ideals, 
which  did  not  tend  to  the  enlargement  of  his 
estate.  But  we  have  the  testimony  of  one  whose 
voice  is  a  good  deal  more  important  than  Pirk- 
heimer's  on  this  issue — the  voice  of  Diirer  him- 
self. He  who  is  the  model  of  affectionate 
gratitude  whenever  he  speaks  of  his  father  and 
mother,  and  who  even  speaks,  in  a  way,  kindly 
and  considerately  of  his  father-in-law  and  brother- 
in-law,  is  rigidly  cold  and  reticent  about  his  wife. 
Not  a  word  breathes  of  love  or  even  respect  for 
her ;  and  ten  years  after  his  marriage  he  cracks 
a  joke  at  her  expense — in  a  letter  to  this  same 
Pirkheimer — which,  even  taking  the  coarseness 
of  the  age  into  consideration,  is  cynical  past 
endurance,  and  is  altogether  unthinkable  as  having 
been  made  with  reference  to  a  person  for  whom 
he  had  a  vestige  of  affection  left.  She  had  borne 
him  no  children,  and  thus — as  sentiment  went  in 
those  times — the  main  link  that  might  have 
bound  them  together  in  closer  intimacy  was 
missing. 

Upon  his  return  to  Nuremberg  Diirer  imme- 
diately went  to  work  in  earnest,  and  we  must 
remember  the  practice  of  his  profession  was,  in 
those  days,  more  like  the  pursuit  of  some  busi- 
ness than  like  the  free  and  unrestrained  life  of 


60    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

an  artist  as  we  know  it.  His  first  activity  was 
directed  to  such  things  as  could  be  readily  changed 
for  money.  The  art  of  the  copper-engraver  was 
the  one  which  appealed  to  a  wide  public,  and  was 
thus  sure  of  a  large  custom  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  rated  and  paid  for  higher  than  the 
other  popular  art,  woodcut.  Diirer  did  not  see 
Schongauer,  but  he  must  have  seen  and  studied 
Schongauer's  plates — the  principal  output  of  the 
Colmar  artist's  life — and  he  was  also  acquainted 
with  the  engravings  of  Schongauer's  predecessors 
and  contemporaries. 

The  governing  impulse  of  his  early  engraved 
work  becomes  apparent  when  we  consider  his 
choice  of  subjects.  He  desires  to  supply  his 
customers  with  all  the  kinds  of  pictorial  print 
that  they  possibly  can  crave  for.  Madonnas, 
biblical  subjects,  and  saints  catered  for  religious 
wants  and  were  sold  at  church  doors,  whence 
they  were  offered  up  to  the  Virgin  or  some  patron 
saint  who  had  responded  to  the  devotee's  prayer ; 
or  they  were  taken  home  to  serve  as  diminutive 
altar-pieces  in  some  nook  of  the  room.  Again, 
Diirer  engraved  pictures  of  strange  soldiers  and 
Turks ;  or  of  figures  from  everyday  life,  such 
as  the  gallant  standard-bearer ;  or  even  of  mon- 
strosities,  like   the  double-bodied,  eight-footed 


ALBRECHT  DURER  61 


pig ;  and,  finally,  he  began  to  reflect  the  growing 
u  humanism  "  of  his  age,  that  revival  of  interest 
in  and  study  of  antiquity,  by  venturing  upon 
mythological  subjects. 

Almost  every  child  nowadays  has  seen  pictures 
of  some  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  statues.  Homer 
and  Virgil  and  their  heroes  are  common  bywords 
of  the  household.  Diirer  had  seen  nothing  of 
all  this  ;  what  little  literary  knowledge  of  an- 
tiquity he  possessed  in  these  early  days  he  had 
mostly  by  hearsay.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore, 
that  some  of  his  early  mythological  pictures 
are  quite  fantastic  and  quite  unintelligible  to 
us.  We  can  scarcely  imagine  which  of  the  gods 
or  heroes  he  intended  some  of  his  figures  to 
represent. 

Every  subject  which  he  touched,  Diirer's  sin- 
cerity and  love  of  beauty  turned  into  a  fine  work 
of  art.  The  men  of  his  day,  however,  looked 
upon  most  of  them  doubtless  rather  as  valuable 
pieces  of  news.  The  pictures  were  to  them 
pretty  much  what  our  newspapers  are  to  us. 

Few  of  these  early  engravings  are  dated ;  but 
we  are  able  to  date  them  approximately  with  the 
help  of  drawings,  and  by  paying  attention  to  the 
signatures — Diirer's  monogram — which  gradually 
changes  as  the  years  go  by. 


62    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


The  metal  engravings  of  these  early  years  are 
his  pot-boilers.  The  work  that  really  filled  his 
artistic  soul  was  executed  upon  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent field  of  art — namely,  upon  that  of  wood- 
cut. Very  soon  after  his  return  to  Nuremberg  he 
commenced  a  series  of  fifteen  large  woodcuts  to 
illustrate  the  Book  of  the  Revelation  of  St.  John. 
The  size  indicates  Italian  influence.  Besides, 
the  landscapes  on  several  sheets  are  plainly  re- 
miniscent of  South  Tyrolese  scenery,  and  on  one 
picture,  "  The  Martyrdom  of  St.  John  "  (Bartsch 
6i),  we  behold  the  lion  of  St.  Mark  on  his 
column.  All  of  this  corroborates  the  assumption 
that  Diirer  must  have  visited  Venice  at  some 
time  before  the  completion  and  issue  of  this 
series.  The  Revelation  pictures  were  published 
in  1498.  The  theme  seems,  upon  first  conside- 
ration, unsuitable  for  pictorial  treatment ;  yet 
some  Bibles  prior  to  Diirer,  which  contained  but 
very  few  New  Testament  pictures,  devoted  a 
comparatively  large  number  to  subjects  chosen 
from  the  Book  of  Revelation.  Diirer  was,  above 
all,  attracted  by  the  opportunity  for  speculative 
fancies  offered  by  the  subject.  The  play  of  his 
imagination  is  wonderful,  and  it  is  marvellous 
how  he  compasses  subjects  that  apparently  defy 
all  attempts  to  handle  them  pictorially.  The 


ALBRECHT  DURER  63 

fact  that  he  should  have  undertaken  so  serious  a 
task  becomes  all  the  more  startling  when  we 
consider  that  he  was  scarcely  twenty-five  years 
old  when  he  began  it !  This  alone  gives  us  a 
splendid  insight  into  his  artistic  nature. 

Before  the  series  was  completed  Diirer  had 
already  commenced  two  new  ones  of  equal  impor- 
tance ;  these  were  the  so-called  "  Larger  Passion," 
an  intensely  dramatic  version  of  the  story  told 
in  twelve  sheets,  and  the  "  Life  of  the  Virgin,"  a 
beautiful  epic,  in  which  contentment  and  even 
the  charm  of  grace  reign  supreme,  in  twenty 
pictures.  These  two  were,  however,  not  com- 
pleted and  issued  as  sets  before  the  year  1 5 1 1 . 
Besides  these,  the  early  years  produced  several 
detached  large  woodcuts. 

Why  Diirer  was  particularly  attracted  by  this 
form  of  art,  it  is  not  difficult  to  determine.  It 
was,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  the  easiest 
process.  He  was  not  hampered  by  the  tedious- 
ness  of  the  cutting  of  the  blocks,  as  in  his  day 
the  professional  woodcutter  was  already  a  stand- 
ing fixture.  Diirer  had  only  to  draw  his  design 
upon  the  block.  This  was  a  boon  eagerly  to 
be  grasped  at  by  an  artist  whose  mental  eye  was 
so  full  of  visions  as  Diirer's  was.  He  was  too 
full  for  any  slow  method  of  utterance ;  engrav- 


64    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

ing  upon  copper  was  slow  work,  and  painting 
still  more  so.  The  rapidity  of  the  pen  was 
scarcely  equal  to  the  task  of  crystallising  the 
creations  of  his  genius.  And  if  the  woodcutter 
lagged  behind,  it  did  not  matter;  for  his  slow- 
ness did  not  detain  Diirer. 

He  does  not  at  first  seem  to  have  been  much 
in  sympathy  with  the  art  of  painting.  The 
earliest  works  we  know  are  painted  with  water- 
colours  apparently,  upon  fine  canvas.  Among 
the  best  known  are  the  "  Portrait  of  Himself  "  as  a 
young  man,  the  "  Portrait  of  Elector  Frederick 
the  Wise,"  and  the  "  Triptych  Altar-piece,"  for- 
merly in  the  Chapel  at  Wittenberg  and  now  in  the 
Dresden  Gallery.  The  coloration  is  light,  but 
there  is  no  lustre,  and  the  medium  has  an  un- 
lovely effect  when  used  in  this  manner  upon 
canvas. 

The  two  last-named  pictures  were  possibly 
done  at  Wittenberg  in  1494  or  1495.  But  t^ie 
Saxon  Court  may  have  ordered  them  at  Nurem- 
berg. It  is  certainly  strange  that  Diirer,  if  he 
made  a  trip  to  Venice  and  a  second  one  to 
Wittenberg  all  within  a  year  and  a  half  of  his 
wedding  day,  should  not  have  jotted  down  the 
least  note  of  them.  For  he  is  very  communi- 
cative, and   he  wrote  a  short  account  of  his 


ALBRECHT  DURER  65 
family  and  life,  composed  a  diary  on  one  journey, 
as  we  shall  see  later  on,  and  became  an  author 
of  several  books,  in  which  he  occasionally  refers 
to  facts  of  his  life. 

Even  after  Diirer  takes  up  painting  in  oils 
seriously,  he  sometimes  reverts  to  his  old 
technique  of  water-colours  on  canvas.  Some  of 
his  first  work  in  oil  has  the  appearance  of  being 
a  sort  of  stepping-stone  from  the  earlier  style 
to  the  latter.  Thus  there  are  two  wings  of  an 
altar-piece  (the  central  portion  of  which  seems 
to  be  lost,  two  other  wings  being  by  Hans 
Suess  von  Kuhnbach  and  not  by  Diirer),  upon 
which  we  see  "  Job  in  his  Trials  "  (in  the  Frankfort 
Gallery),  and  a  "  Fifer  and  Drummer"  (in  the 
Cologne  Gallery),  where  the  figures  are  dis- 
tinctly outlined,  and  where  we  perceive  so  much 
"  drawing"  that  they  look  tinted  rather  than 
painted. 

The  so-called  Paumgartner  altar  at  Munich— 
the  central  piece  of  which  is  a  "  Nativity,"  and 
upon  the  wings  of  which  Diirer  painted,  as 
tradition  goes,  two  of  his  friends,  the  one  as 
St.  George,  the  other  as  St.  Eustace — displays 
a  good  deal  more  of  painter-like  qualities. 
Pupils,  however,  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
the  execution.    Of  painter-like  qualities,  how- 


66    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

ever,  more  appear — as  far  as  the  early  work 
goes  —  in  a  picture  of  small  dimensions,  the 
portrait  of  one  Oswolt  Krel.  In  this  he  has 
become  really  painter-like,  and,  more  than  that, 
has  become  truly  Diirerian  ;  in  other  words,  has 
attained  a  proper  style.  For,  though  we  find 
him  now  seriously  striving  to  master  the  true 
technique  of  an  artist  in  oils,  his  inborn  inclina- 
tions toward  energetic,  forceful  draughtsman- 
ship, and  towards  a  suggestive  delineation  of 
his  model's  character,  have  in  no  wise  abated. 

Within  ten  years  of  his  return  Durer  had 
succeeded  in  making  a  name  for  himself.  He 
received  sufficient  orders  for  work ;  his  engrav- 
ings and  woodcuts  sold  well.  The  latter  had 
pread  his  fame  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his 
own  town,  or  even  his  country,  and  news  came 
from  Venice  that  they  were  fraudulently  copied 
there.  He  no  longer  needed  to  consider  what 
sort  of  article  the  public  liked  to  buy ;  he  was 
now  pretty  sure  that  they  would  welcome  every- 
thing he  issued. 

The  year  1504  witnesses  the  completion  of 
several  important  works  which  were  done  in 
this  spirit.  Foremost  among  them  are  three 
engravings  on  copper,  "  The  Nativity,"  an 
enchanting   idyl;   the    "St.   Eustace,"  Diirer's 


From  the  Engraving  by  Dtirtr 


ST.  EUSTACE 


Mansttl 


ALBRECHT  DURER  67 

largest  plate,  important  as  an  embodiment  of 
his  principles  of  landscape  art ;  and  the  "  Adam 
and  Eve,"  which  is  the  earliest  published  indica- 
tion of  his  studies  of  proportion — studies  that 
occupied  his  mind  throughout  almost  the  whole 
of  his  life.  In  Diirer's  own  estimation  these 
will  have  been  secondary  to  a  set  of  drawings 
of  the  Passion,  called  the  "  Green  Passion,"  from 
the  colour  of  the  paper  on  which  they  are 
drawn.  They  represent  the  third,  possibly  the 
fourth  time  that  he  had  taken  up  this  theme. 
Often  enough  the  inventive  powers  of  an  artist 
fail  him  before  he  finishes  a  single  set  of  Passion 
pictures.  Diirer's  wealth  of  imagination  and 
his  creative  powers  seem  boundless.  There  is 
no  single  repetition  to  be  found  in  the  "  Green 
Passion."  Compared  with  his  (in  the  main)  earlier 
versions  this  one  is  freed  from  dross,  simplified, 
and  raised  to  a  higher  standard  of  beauty. 

This  same  year — 1504,  in  fine — is  the  date  of 
production  of  Diirer's  "  Adoration  of  the  Magi," 
the  most  important  among  his  early  paintings. 
The  figures  are  fewer  than  on  his  previous  altar- 
pieces  ;  they  are  not  yet  life-size,  but  they  lack 
the  many  imperfections  which  characterised 
them  formerly,  as  being  more  or  less  related 
to  "  Gothic "  predecessors.    The  poses  are  un- 


68    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

affected,  the  folds  of  the  draperies  flow  grace- 
fully, and  all  is  more  simple  than  it  had  been 
ever  before  in  Durer 's  work. 

So  far  the  development  of  Durer  as  an  artist 
had  been  progressing  on  smooth  lines.  Now 
there  came  a  sudden  interruption. 

We  do  not  know  for  certain  what  may  have 
induced  Durer  to  leave  his  home  and  his 
clientele,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  in  the  year  1505, 
to  visit  Venice.  It  has  been  suggested  that  he 
went  for  business  reasons,  to  suppress  piratical 
copies  of  his  works.  Yet,  the  earliest  dated 
copies  of  this  sort  engraved  by  Marc  Antonio, 
the  sale  of  which  infringed  upon  his  own  rights, 
hail  from  the  year  1506,  and  Durer's  energetic 
appeals  to  the  Signoria  of  Venice  to  stop  this 
nuisance  are  still  later.  Probably,  after  all,  the 
mere  desire  to  free  himself  for  a  time  at  least 
from  the  depressing  trammels  of  everyday  life, 
and  the  yearning  towards  a  more  liberal  art- 
atmosphere  than  that  of  Nuremberg,  were  the 
real  factors  which  decided  him  to  undertake  the 
journey.  At  any  rate,  this  is  the  spirit  which 
the  ten  letters  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Pirkheimer 
at  home  breathe.  They  are  most  valuable  indica- 
tors of  the  man  and  the  artist  at  that  time. 

Pirkheimer  had  a  keen  sense  for  the  require- 


ALBRECHT  DURER  69 

merits  of  genius,  and  it  was  probably  he  who 
decided  Diirer  finally  to  go  upon  this  journey. 
It  was  he,  too,  who  loaned  him  the  necessary 
funds,  asking  Diirer  at  the  same  time  to  do 
some  commissions  for  him,  probably  in  order  to 
make  Diirer's  obligations  seem  less.  "  I  pray 
you  to  have  patience  as  regards  my  debt,"  writes 
Diirer  in  his  first  letter ;  "  I  think  of  it  oftener 
than  you  do.  If  God  helps  me  home,  I  shall 
surely  pay  you  back  with  the  greatest  thanks. 
The  Germans  here  have  ordered  an  altar-piece 
from  me,  and  will  give  me  no  Rhenish  florins 
for  it,  my  outlay  being  less  than  five  florins. 
Within  eight  days  I  shall  have  prepared  and 
finished  my  white  ground.  Then  I  will  com- 
mence to  paint  straightway ;  for,  God  willing, 
it  must  be  upon  the  altar  a  month  after  Easter. 
I  hope  to  save  all  this  money,  and  out  of  it  I 
intend  paying  you." 

From  the  next  letter,  written  a  month  later, 
upon  the  7th  of  February  1506,  it  appears  that 
Pirkheimer  has  been  vexed  not  to  have  heard 
from  Diirer.  Diirer  begs  forgiveness  humbly, 
"for  I  have  no  other  friend  in  the  world  but 
you.  Nor  can  I  really  believe  that  you  are 
angry  with  me ;  for  I  think  of  you  not  else- 
wise  than  of  a  father."    He  then  writes  what 


70    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

fine  people  there  are  in  Venice,  and  how  well 
he  is  esteemed  there.  "  I  have  many  good 
friends  among  the  Italians,  who  warn  me  not 
to  eat  and  drink  with  the  painters.  Many 
among  them  are  hostile  to  me,  though  they 
copy  my  things  wherever  they  can  find  them ; 
but  afterwards  they  decry  it,  and  say  it  isn't 
after  the  antique  manner,  and  therefore  not 
good.  But  Gian  Bellini  openly  and  highly 
praised  me  in  the  presence  of  many  noblemen. 
He  wanted  something  of  mine,  and  came  to  me 
himself  and  asked  me  to  paint  him  something, 
and  he  would  buy  it.  And  all  people  tell  me 
how  pious  he  is,  which  predisposes  me  straight 
off  in  his  favour.  He  is  very  old,  and  to  this 
day  remains  the  best  of  all,  as  far  as  painting 
goes.  But  the  thing  which  pleased  me  so  well 
eleven  years  ago  doesn't  please  me  any  more " 
(Diirer  refers  to  Jacopo  de'  Barbarj) ;  "and  if 
I  hadn't  seen  it  myself,  I  wouldn't  have  believed 
any  one  else.  .  .  .  To-day  I  began  the  com- 
position of  my  picture :  for  my  hands  were  so 
hard  and  stiff"  that  I  couldn't  work  before  I  had 
had  them  cured." 

Upon  the  28  th  of  the  month  Diirer  writes 
that  he  has  sold  all  the  pictures  but  one  which 
he  had  brought  along  with  him.    "  I  wish  some 


ALBRECHT  DURER  71 

cause  or  other  could  bring  you  here.  I  am 
sure  time  would  pass  quickly  enough  for  you. 
For  there  are  a  lot  of  very  agreeable  people 
here.  And  such  crowds  of  Italians  come  to  see 
me,  that  I  am  compelled  occasionally  to  hide. 
The  nobility  are  all  well-wishers  ;  but  among  the 
painters  few  only  wish  me  well." 

The  commissions  which  Pirkheimer  had  en- 
trusted play  an  important  part  in  all  the  letters. 
But  they  cause  Diirer  much  trouble.  He  writes 
that  the  precious  stones  which  his  friend  wants 
are  to  be  had  much  cheaper  in  Germany ;  he 
is  constantly  in  fear  of  sharpers,  and  once  he 
has  been  swindled,  but  friends  mediate  and  he 
recovers  his  money,  having  merely  to  "set 
up "  a  fish  dinner  as  a  sort  of  forfeit.  An 
emerald  ring  which  he  sent  on  was  returned 
by  Pirkheimer. 

Diirer  complains  that  his  wife  doesn't  write. 
His  experience  on  the  subject  of  matrimony 
seems  to  have  given  the  impulse  when  he 
advises  Pirkheimer :  "  It  looks  like  all  the 
world  as  if  you  had  taken  a  wife.  Look  to 
it  lest  you  have  taken  a  master." 

On  the  2nd  of  April  there  is  a  renewed 
complaint  of  the  animosity  of  the  Venetian 
painters,  who  forced  him  to  pay  four  florins 


72    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

into  their  "  school."  "  I  might  have  made 
much  money  by  this  time  were  it  not  for 
the  altar-piece  which  the  Germans  have  ordered. 
For  this  is  a  very  large  work,  and  I  cannot 
finish  it  before  Whitsuntide.  The  eighty-five 
ducats  it  brings  will  all  be  gone  by  that  time. 
I've  bought  several  things,  too,  and  sent  some 
money  home.  But,  believe  me,  I  do  not  intend 
to  leave  this  place  before,  with  God's  help,  I'm 
in  a  position  to  pay  you  and  have  a  hundred 
florins  besides.  It  would  be  an  easy  matter,  too, 
were  it  not  for  the  Germans'  picture.  For, 
excepting  the  painters,  everybody  wishes  me 
well.  Please  speak  to  my  mother  about  my 
brother,  that  she  go  to  Wohlgemuth  and  ask 
him  whether  he  can  give  him  work  to  do  until 
I  return.  I  would  have  gladly  taken  him  along 
to  Venice.  It  would  have  been  profitable  for 
me  and  him,  if  merely  for  the  sake  of  learning 
the  language.  But  she  was  afraid  the  heavens 
might  fall  down  upon  him.  Please  look  after 
him ;  it  is  a  sorry  job  with  the  women-folk. 
Talk  with  the  boy.  .  .  .  For  myself,  I  wouldn't 
come  to  grief ;  but  to  support  many  is  beyond 
me.  For  nobody  throws  away  money"  (i.e. 
upon  art). 

The  next  letter  is  full  of  worry  about  a  ring 


ALBRECHT  DURER  73 

that  Diirer  has  sent,  and  the  receipt  of  which 
Pirkheimer  has  not  yet  acknowledged.  But 
after  that  the  tone  of  the  letters  is  totally 
changed.  As  far  as  we  know,  four  months 
elapse  before  Diirer  writes  again,  and  he  has 
become  a  different  man.  He  is  elated  and 
buoyant — he  leads  off  with  mock-grandiloquent 
tirades  in  queer  Italian,  casts  all  care  far  away 
from  him,  and  is  above  petty  annoyances.  "  If 
those  rings  don't  please  you,  break  them  and 
throw  them  away.  What,  think  you,  do  I  care 
about  such  dirt  as  that !  I  have  grown  to  be 
a  nobleman  at  Venice."  But  this  is  all  meant 
in  fun,  and  he  reports  conscientiously  about 
further  purchases  for  Pirkheimer.  "  My  picture 
sends  greeting,  and  would  give  a  ducat  to  be 
seen  by  you.  It  is  good  and  beautiful  in 
coloration.  I  have  earned  much  praise  but 
little  profit.  And  I  have  silenced  all  the 
painters,  who  used  to  say  that  I  was  good  in 
engraving,  but  didn't  know  anything  about  the 
handling  of  colours.  Now  everybody  says  they 
have  never  seen  finer  colours.  My  French 
cloak  sends  its  best  regards,  and  so  does  my 
Italian  coat.  Item,  the  Doge  and  the  Patriarch 
have  also  come  to  see  my  altar-piece."  And,  on 
the  23rd  of  September   1506,  he  continues  in 


74    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  same  strain  :  "I  have  finished  my  altar-piece 
and  another  canvas,  such  as  I've  never  accom- 
plished heretofore.  Since  you  are  well  pleased 
with  yourself"  (this  refers  to  a  passage  in  one  of 
Pirkheimer's  letters),  "  I  for  my  part  don't  mind 
telling  you  that  there  isn't  a  finer  Madonna  in 
all  the  country  than  mine.  Just  as  all  the 
gentlefolk  praise  you,  so  do  all  the  artists  laud 
my  picture.  They  avow  they  have  never  seen 
a  more  exalted  and  pleasing  painting."  Then 
there  follow  some  remarks  about  further  com- 
missions for  his  friend,  notably  about  Oriental 
carpets — Diirer  can't  find  a  square  one,  they  are 
all  long  and  narrow — and  he  adds  that  he  has 
at  least  four  more  weeks  before  him  at  Venice. 
He  has  some  portraits  on  hand,  which  he 
promised  to  do.  During  the  time  he  spent 
upon  the  altar-piece  he  refused  orders  to  the 
value  of  2000  ducats,  he  says.  And  he  has 
found  the  first  grey  hair  upon  his  head,  from 
work  and  worry. 

And  now  follows  the  tenth  and  last  of  the 
letters  written  to  Pirkheimer,  so  full  of  import. 
It  contains  the  excessively  gross  passage  about 
his  own  wife,  which  Diirer — even  if  we  make 
thorough  allowance  for  the  spirit  of  the  age — 
could  not  have  written  had  he  the  slightest  bit 


ALBRECHT  DURER  75 

of  affection  left  for  Agnes.  He  renders  final 
account  of  all  his  commissions,  and  says  he  will 
be  done  with  Venice  in  ten  days'  time.  He  is 
elated  still,  but  the  prospect  of  having  to  leave 
these  surroundings  depresses  him  mightily,  and 
the  famous  passage  betrays  this.  "  I  shall  ride 
to  Bologna  for  the  sake  of  art,  some  secrets  in 
Perspective  which  somebody  there  is  going  to 
teach  me.  I  shall  stay  there  about  eight  or  ten 
days,  and  then  ride  back  to  Venice.  Then  I  will 
make  for  home,  by  the  next  carrier.  Oh,  how  shall 
I  starve  for  lack  of  this  sun  !  here  I  am  a  gentleman, 
at  home  a  parasite  !  " 

In  Venice  he  had,  towards  the  last,  become  the 
favoured  of  fortune,  with  a  full  light  of  fame 
turned  upon  him.  At  Nuremberg  an  artist  was 
at  bottom  a  craftsman,  scarcely  better  than  the 
shoemaker  and  the  tailor  ;  he  feels  that  there 
he  will,  to  say  the  least,  again  sink  into  a  daily 
routine  of  drudgery. 

The  altar-piece,  so  often  referred  to  in  these 
letters,  is  the  "  Feast  of  the  Rosary,"  or  adoration 
of  the  Madonna,  by  Maximilian,  &c,  now  at 
Prague,  belonging  to  the  Strahow  Convent  there. 
Emperor  Rudolf  II.  prized  it  so  highly  that  he 
had  it  carried  upon  the  shoulders  of  four  strong 
men  from  Venice  to  Prague.    On  being  trans- 


76    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

ported  to  Vienna  it  suffered  greatly,  and  again  in 
the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century.  By  about 
i860  it  was  in  a  very  bad  condition,  and  was  at 
that  time  "  restored  "  by  one,  Anton  Grus,  who 
ruthlessly  bedaubed  Durer' s  masterpiece  with 
his  own  florid  colours,  scraped  the  face  down  to 
the  panel,  and  painted  in  his  insipid  daughter's 
portrait.  An  old  copy,  at  Vienna,  probably  gives 
us  a  better  idea  of  the  picture  as  Durer  painted 
it  than  the  wreck  of  the  original  now  at  Prague. 
Other  paintings  of  the  time — for  example,  "  The 
Crucifixion "  at  Dresden,  "  The  Portrait  of  a 
Young  Man  "  at  Hampton  Court,  "  The  Madonna 
with  the  Finch  "  and  "  The  portrait  of  a  Young 
Woman,"  both  at  Berlin — convey  to  us  an  excel- 
lent impression  of  the  picturesque  style  Durer 
had  developed  into  at  Venice,  especially  the  fine 
coloration,  of  which  he  is  deservedly  proud. 

The  general  feeling  of  elation  which  had  come 
over  him  towards  the  end  of  his  Venetian  sojourn 
was  sufficiently  well  founded.  For  he  had  gained 
the  admiration  of  the  Signoria  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  offered  him  a  yearly  pension  of  two 
hundred  ducats  if  he  would  settle  in  Venice. 

Upon  his  return  to  Nuremberg  Durer  took  up 
engraving  again,  and  painted  the  life-size  "  Adam 
and  Eve"  now  at  Madrid.    These  are  really 


ALBRECHT  DURER  77 

studies  in  human  proportion,  and  his  work  at 
Bologna  may  have  furnished  the  direct  impetus  for 
them.  They  are  singularly  more  painter-like  than 
the  engraved  "  Adam  and  Eve"  of  1501,  which 
were  likewise  studies  in  proportion.  In  the  en- 
graving, however,  art  is  almost  lost  sight  of 
beneath  the  display  of  science. 

Durer  then  received  two  commissions  for 
paintings,  the  one  for  a  picture  of  the  "  Martyr- 
dom of  the  Ten  Thousand  Christians  in  Persia  " 
from  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise,  the  other  from 
a  wealthy  merchant  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
Jacop  Heller,  for  a  "  Coronation  of  the  Virgin." 
"  The  Martyrdom  "  is  now  at  Vienna  ;  of  "  The 
Coronation"  the  centre-piece  was  lost  by  fire  ( 1 674) 
at  Munich,  and  only  the  wings  are  preserved  at 
Frankfort.  But  these  wings  were  executed  in  the 
main  by  pupils.  Heller,  as  far  as  we  know,  visited 
Durer  early  in  1507  at  Nuremberg  and  bespoke 
the  picture  ;  it  was  not  before  August  1509  that 
it  was  sent  to  him.  Several  letters  from  Durer 
to  Heller  tell  us  all  about  the  history  of  the 
work. 

On  the  28th  of  August  1507,  Durer  writes 
that  he  has  bought  the  panel,  had  it  prepared 
and  grounded,  but  cannot  begin  to  work  upon 
it  before  he  has  finished  the  Elector's  picture,  as 


78    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

he  doesn't  like  to  work  upon  too  many  things  at 
the  same  time.  The  Elector's  picture  is  more 
than  half  finished,  and  Diirer  promises  to  deliver 
a  painting  to  Heller,  such  as  not  many  men 
can  do. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  in  the  following  year, 
Diirer  writes  that  the  Elector's  picture  will  be 
finished  in  fourteen  days.  The  outer  wings  of 
Heller's  altar  are  already  sketched.  They  are 
to  be  en  grisaille.  The  centre-piece  he  will  allow 
no  one  to  touch  but  himself.  He  further  writes 
that,  if  it  were  not  to  please  Heller,  he  wouldn't 
paint  it  all,  and  never  again  will  he  be  persuaded 
to  take  an  order  of  this  kind.  The  Elector's 
picture  has  taken  him  a  year  to  do,  and  the  280 
florins  that  were  paid  him  for  it  weren't  enough, 
after  deducting  expenses,  to  pay  for  his  keep 
during  that  time. 

Now  follows  an  interesting  letter,  but  one 
which  vexed  Heller  greatly.  Diirer  reports  that 
he  has  already  finished  two  coatings  of  paint, 
and  there  are  to  be  five  or  six  in  all.  Evidently 
the  altar  was  executed  in  some  kind  of  tempera 
technique  which  necessitates  painting  in  various 
layers.  As  he  progresses,  however,  Diirer  dis- 
covers that  he'll  never  be  able  to  see  his  own  again 
if  he  continues  the  way  he  has  begun.    He  writes 


ALBRECHT  DURER  79 

that  if  he  really  is  to  finish  a  first-class  piece  of 
work  he  must  have  200  florins.  Even  that  isn't 
half  of  what  he  would  ask  for  a  new  order,  if 
such  a  one  should  turn  up.  If  Heller,  how- 
ever, doesn't  want  to  pay  more  than  the  130 
Rhenish  florins  originally  stipulated,  Dttrer  will 
still  paint  him  something  worth  far  more  than 
the  price  paid. 

This  aggravates  Heller,  as  he  supposes  Dttrer 
is  trying  to  break  the  agreement  and  force  a 
higher  price  out  of  him.  Diirer  tries  to  justify 
his  conduct  in  a  long  letter  of  the  4th  of 
November  1508.  He  writes  that  he  hasn't  the 
slightest  doubt  that  all  connoisseurs  will  value  the 
painting  at  300  florins  when  it  is  once  finished. 
He  makes  use  of  the  very  best  colours,  and  his 
outlay  on  ultramarine  alone  amounts  to  twenty 
florins.  He  estimates  the  time  that  it  will  take 
him  to  finish  the  centre-piece  at  thirteen  months, 
to  say  the  least.  He  denies  that  he  could  ever 
have  been  insane  enough  to  promise  to  finish  the 
picture  "  with  all  the  greatest  care  possible." 
Any  single  head  "  finished  with  the  greatest  care 
possible "  would  take  him  half  a  year,  and  at 
that  rate  the  Heller  picture  couldn't  be  finished 
within  a  lifetime.  Besides,  it  would  be  a  waste 
of  energy  to  "  finish "  a  large  altar-piece  after 


80    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

this  fashion.  After  all  things  are  said,  Heller, 
he  supposes,  doesn't  want  Diirer  to  lose  money 
on  his  work,  and  he,  on  the  other  hand,  doesn't 
wish  to  have  it  reported  that  he  doesn't  stick  to 
the  fulfilment  of  his  contract.  He  begs  Heller 
to  have  patience  pending  the  completion  of  the 
altar-piece.  He  feels  sure  that  he  will  like  it, 
and  all  unpleasantness  will  be  resolved. 

In  the  previous  letter  he  had  asked  Heller 
whether  he  couldn't  find  a  purchaser  for  the 
"  Madonna  "  which  Heller  saw  in  Durer's  house. 
It's  a  thing  he  wouldn't  do  again  under  50  florins 
as  an  order ;  but  now  that  he  has  it  lying  upon 
his  hands,  he'll  sell  it  for  thirty,  and,  rather  than 
not  sell  it,  let  it  go  for  twenty-five.  In  this 
letter  he  writes  to  Heller  not  to  trouble  any  more 
about  the  "  Madonna,"  as  the  Bishop  of  Breslau 
has  in  the  meantime  bought  it  for  72  florins. 

Once  more,  towards  the  end  of  March  1509, 
Diirer  asks  Heller  to  be  patient.  He  has  worked 
most  conscientiously  upon  the  picture,  and  used 
up  24  florins  worth  of  paint.  He  wouldn't 
undertake  another  such  for  400  florins.  He  has 
been  asked  to  sell  it  elsewhere  (at  a  profit),  but 
he  will  remain  true  to  his  agreement. 

The  continued  broad  hints  that  Heller  is  re- 
ceiving at  least  twice  the  value  of  his  payment, 


ALBRECHT  DURER  81 

grate  upon  the  Frankfort  merchant's  sensibilities, 
and  the  result  is  some  acrimonious  correspon- 
dence. It  is  easy  to  gather  from  Diirer's  replies 
what  Heller  must  have  written.  In  the  end 
Diirer  agrees  to  send  him  the  picture  to  Frank- 
fort, and  let  him  have  it  for  100  florins  less  than 
Diirer  can  get  for  it  elsewhere.  Heller's  friend- 
ship, he  says,  outvalues  the  loss  of  100  florins; 
but,  if  Heller  doesn't  want  it,  Diirer  is  ready  to 
take  it  back.  He  has  painted  it  carefully  five 
or  six  times,  and  even  after  it  was  ostensibly 
finished  he  has  gone  over  it  again  twice.  For  he 
wants  it  to  last  500  years,  if  kept  clean.  He 
begs  Heller  to  have  it  kept  clean,  and  not  to 
allow  them  to  sprinkle  it  with  holy  water.  Even 
now  he  cannot  withhold  repeating  his  oft-pro- 
claimed losses  at  this  kind  of  work.  If  he  were 
to  go  on  painting  like  this  he  would  soon  turn 
beggar.  So  he  will  return  to  engraving.  Had 
he  stuck  to  that,  he  says,  he  would  now  be  richer 
by  a  thousand  florins.  He  tells  Heller  how  the 
altar  must  be  hung,  and  gives  directions  as  to 
careful  treatment.  No  one  must  be  allowed  to 
varnish  it.  In  a  year  or  two  he  himself  will 
come  to  Frankfort  to  varnish  it  again  with  his 
own  particular  varnish  ;  all  others  are  yellow  and 
would  spoil  the  painting.    From  the  last  letter, 

F 


82    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


dated  October  12,  1509,  we  learn  that  Heller, 
when  the  picture  arrived  at  last,  was  quite  de- 
lighted with  it.  So  everything  ended  in  harmony 
at  last. 

Diirer  now  turned  with  especial  assiduity  to 
woodcut  and  engraving,  as  he  had  predicted  he 
would  in  his  letter  to  Heller.  The  following 
years  rounded  off  the  small  woodcut  "  Passion," 
the  large  woodcut  "  Passion,"  and  the  engraved 
"  Passion,"  besides  giving  birth  to  many  of  the 
best-known  other  prints,  such  as  the  "  St.  Jerome 
in  his  Cell,"  the  "  Melancolia,"  and  the  "  Knight, 
Death,  and  Devil,"  the  dry-point  4 'St.  Jerome 
under  the  Willow-Tree,"  &c. 

For  the  chapel  of  a  home  for  old  men 
in  Nuremberg,  founded  by  E.  Schildkrot  and 
Mathew  Landauer,  Diirer  painted  at  this  time 
a  beautiful  "  All  Saints  "  altar-piece,  for  which 
he  designed  an  original  frame.  His  Italian 
coloration  is  blended  with  German  design  and 
thoroughness.  The  picture  was  bought,  1585, 
by  Emperor  Rudolph  II.,  and  is  now  in  Vienna ; 
the  frame  is  still  to  be  seen  in  Nuremberg  at 
the  Germanic  Museum. 

The  dates  on  drawings  and  manuscripts  by 
Diirer  show  us  that,  from  about  15 10  onward, 
two  things  were  to  engage  his  attention  to  such 


ALBRECHT  DURER  83 

a  degree  as  to  hinder  his  development  into  a 
great  painter,  the  possibility  of  which  is  vouched 
for  by  the  "  All  Saints "  if  by  nothing  else. 
One  of  these  two  things  is  his  scientific  research, 
the  other  his  work  for  Emperor  Maximilian. 

The  former  resulted  in  a  book  on  the  "  Art 
of  Perspective 99  (issued  1525),  a  second  book 
"  On  the  Fortification  of  Cities,  Castles,  and 
Villages"  (1527),  and  "Four  Books  on  the 
Proportions  of  the  Human  Body M  (1528). 
Diirer  was  by  nature  meditatively  disposed  ;  but 
he  had  not  received  an  education  which  enabled 
him  to  grapple  successfully  with  scientific  prob- 
lems. Perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  that 
on  account  of  this  failure  he  was  unable  to 
grasp  his  ideas  definitely,  and,  above  all,  to 
express  himself  clearly.  His  books  (and  manu- 
script sketches  for  them)  are  troublesome  read- 
ing, full  of  contradictions,  scarcely  ever  lucid 
in  their  deductions  and  phraseology.  Upon  the 
whole,  we  must  lament  this  side  of  his  activity 
as  a  waste  of  energy.  He  had  received  the  first 
impetus  thereto  from  Leonardesque  traditions, 
and  especially  from  the  painter  Jacopo  de' 
Barbarj.  That  he  went  to  Bologna  expressly  to 
pursue  such  studies  we  have  already  learned 
above. 


84    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Here  and  there  are  to  be  found  some  most 
interesting  and  also  some  uncommonly  fine  state- 
ments. For  example  :  "  But  life  in  nature  lets  you 
recognise  the  truth  as  to  these  things.  There- 
fore look  at  her  diligently,  defer  to  her,  and 
do  not  depart  from  nature  in  the  belief  that 
you  yourself  can  invent  anything  better;  then 
you  would  be  led  astray.  For,  truly,  art  is 
encompassed  by  nature ;  whoever  can  tear  her 
out  holds  her  as  his  own."  Or,  "As  far  as  it 
(your  work)  is  contrary  to  nature,  so  far  it  is 
bad  ; "  or,  "  But  in  such  things  tempered  effects 
are  the  most  beautiful,  although  the  others,  viz. 
those  full  of  strong  contrast,  excite  more  wonder, 
yet  they  are  not  all  so  pleasant,"  &c.  Durer's 
diffidence  as  to  his  own  success  in  these  scien- 
tific works  finds  various  and  constant  expression. 
Almost  every  precept  he  gives  is  followed  by 
some  sort  of  reservation  to  the  effect  that  there 
are  also  other  ways  of  attaining  this,  and  he  is, 
as  an  author,  justly  more  modest  than  as  an 
artist.  If  the  last  aim  of  all  his  scientific  work 
is  to  discover  what  beauty  is,  then  what  else 
but  a  confession  of  his  own  weakness  as  a 
theorist  is  that  famous  often-quoted  sentence  of 
his :  "  But  what  Beauty  really  is,  that  I  cannot 
tell!" 


ALBRECHT  DURER  85 

"  This  is  Emperor  Maximilian,  him  have  I, 
Albrecht  Diirer,  portrayed  at  Augsburg  up 
in  his  little  room  in  the  castle,  in  the  year 
15 1 8,  on  Monday  after  St.  John  the  Baptist's 
day"  (28th  June  151 8),  is  the  legend  which 
Diirer  wrote  on  a  drawing  now  in  the  Albertina 
at  Vienna.  From  it,  principally,  he  did  the  oil 
portrait  of  this  same  prince,  finished  in  the 
ensuing  year,  and  now  in  the  Imperial  Gallery 
at  Vienna,  which  is  the  most  painter-like  of  all 
his  portraits,  and  may  well  be  placed  side  by 
side  with  the  u  All  Saints  "  altar-piece.  Chrono- 
logically they  form  the  nucleus  about  which 
Diirer's  work  for  Maximilian  is  to  be  grouped. 
The  great  44  Triumphal  Arch"  dates  from  the 
year  15 15;  the  "Triumphal  Chariot, "  which 
forms  the  piece  de  resistance  in  the  long  triumphal 
procession,  a  large  series  of  woodcuts  glorifying 
Maximilian,  dates  from  the  year  1522.  Besides 
these  two  there  are  some  woodcut  portraits  and 
single  sheets,  all  connected  with  Maximilian, 
and  it  is  possible  that  Diirer  helped  to  forward 
some  of  the  other  fine-art  schemes  of  the 
Emperor,  although  none  of  the  designs  actually 
executed  is  attributed  to  him. 

Maximilian  L  commissioned  a  large  number 
of    woodcut    series,    in    which    he    and  his 


86    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

house  were  to  be  glorified.  The  "  humanist " 
litterati  of  his  court  mapped  out  pompous  alle- 
gorical schemes,  which  Diirer  and  his  confreres 
had  to  clothe  in  artistic  garb  as  best  they  could. 
The  most  pretentious  among  these  schemes  was 
the  "  Triumphal  Arch,"  consisting  of  ninety-two 
woodcuts,  which,  when  pieced  together  and 
mounted,  measure  about  9  feet  by  6.  The  main 
arch  discovers  Maximilian  enthroned,  his  pedi- 
gree, and  the  arms  of  the  102  countries  he  ruled 
over.  The  smaller  arches,  right  and  left,  are 
decorated  with  twenty-four  representations  of  his 
most  famous  battles  and  achievements.  There 
are,  besides,  pictures  illustrating  the  Emperor's 
various  virtues  and  noble  deeds,  numerous  por- 
traits of  his  relatives,  &c,  and,  finally,  a  great 
deal  of  purely  ornamental  decoration. 

The  "  Triumphal  Chariot "  is  composed  of 
eight  elaborately  finished  sheets.  From  the 
year  15 14  on,  Diirer  illuminated  more  than 
fifty  pages  of  the  famous  Prayer  Book  of 
Maximilian  with  pen  drawings. 

Two  notes  written  by  Diirer  to  a  friend,  C. 
Kress,  and  to  the  Burgomaster  and  Council  of 
Nuremberg,  tell  us  what  return  he  received  for 
all  this  work. 

To  Kress  he  writes  on  the  30th  of  July  1 5 1 5  : 


ALBRECHT  DURER  87 

"  Firstly  I  pray  you  to  find  out  from  Stabius 
whether  he  has  had  any  success  with  His  Im- 
perial Majesty  in  my  behalf,  and  how  my  affair 
stands.  If  he  has  not  had  any,  will  you  please 
try  to  do  something  for  me  with  H.I.M.  ?  And 
especially  remind  His  Imperial  Majesty  that  I 
have  served  him  now  for  three  years,  neglecting 
my  interests  meanwhile,  and  if  I  hadn't  been  so 
diligent,  the  graceful  piece  of  work  (i.e.  '  The 
Triumphal  Arch  ')  would  never  have  come  to 
be  finished,  and  I  consequently  beg  H.  Imp. 
Maj.  to  reward  me  with  100  Florins.  And, 
know  too,  that  I  have  done  many  another 
drawing  for  H.  Imp.  Majesty  beyond  the 
*  Triumph.'  " 

The  Emperor  wanted  to  free  him  from  all 
taxation,  but  the  Council  at  Nuremberg  naturally 
objected  to  this,  since  they  did  not  see  why  they 
should  be  held  to  pay  the  Emperor's  bills.  From 
Diirer's  letter  to  the  Council,  written  on  the  27th 
of  April  1 5 19,  we  glean  that  he  voluntarily 
relinquished  his  claim,  and  he  was  rewarded  in 
the  end  by  an  annual  payment  of  100  florins 
out  of  Maximilian's  Nuremberg  revenues.  Diirer 
reverts  to  the  matter  in  a  letter,  written  in  the 
beginning  of  1520,  to  Georg  Spalatin.  There 
he  writes,  among  other  things:  ''Item,  I  am 


88    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

sending  my  most  worshipful  Lord  (i.e.  Elector 
Frederick,  whose  chaplain  Spalatin  was)  three 
impressions  of  a  plate  which  I  have  engraved  at 
his  desire,  the  portrait  of  his  Lordship  of 
Mayence.  I  have  sent  His  Grace  the  Elector  his 
plate  (portrait)  with  200  proofs,  which  I  de- 
dicated to  him,  in  return  for  which  the  elector 
treated  me  most  graciously.  His  Grace  made 
me  a  present  of  200  florins  in  gold  and  twenty 
yards  of  Damast  for  a  coat.  I  accepted  this  in 
joy  and  gratitude,  all  the  more  so  as  I  was  at 
that  time  in  need.  For  His  Imperial  Majesty 
of  renowned  memory,  who  died  too  soon  for  me, 
had  indeed  the  bounty  to  recompense  my  long 
trouble,  worry,  and  work.  But  the  hundred 
florins  to  be  paid  annually  until  my  end,  out  of 
the  city  revenues,  and  which  I  received  during 
His  Majesty's  lifetime,  these  the  Council  no 
longer  want  to  pay  me." 

The  reason  why  the  Council  of  Nuremberg 
suspended  the  payment  of  this  pension  was, 
probably,  because  they  first  wanted  to  ascertain 
whether  Charles  V.,  Maximilian's  successor, 
would  confirm  the  grant. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  principal  object 
of  Durer's  tour  to  the  Netherlands,  which  will 
occupy  us  next,  was  to  look  after  the  confirma- 


ALBRECHT  DURER  89 

tion  of  this  grant  personally.  He  kept  a  journal 
during  his  voyage,  manuscript  copies  of  which 
have  been  handed  down  to  us.  It  was  in  the 
main  a  diary  of  expenses,  but  often  he  discusses 
things  and  people  that  he  has  seen  and  events 
that  happened. 

Before  entering  upon  the  details  of  this  journey 
we  must  just  make  a  note  of  some  valuable 
information  about  Diirer  during  the  few  years 
previous  to  his  setting  out  upon  it,  which  we  owe 
to  Lorenz  Behaim,  a  canon  of  Bamberg,  who  con- 
veys it  in  his  letters  to  W.  Pirkheimer.  This 
Behaim  had  sojourned  for  a  long  time  at  Rome, 
and  had  become  intimate  with  Pope  Alexander  VI. 
He  is  rather  given  to  taking  Diirer  lightly, 
and,  in  a  mild  manner,  pokes  fun  at  him  on 
account  of  his  vanity.  Diirer  wore  a  full  beard, 
carefully  attended  to,  which  was  an  uncommon 
thing  at  that  time.  According  to  Behaim  he  must 
have  been  somewhat  of  a  "  gay  Lothario  "  in  his 
day ;  several  passages  in  the  Venetian  corre- 
spondence corroborate  this  view.  Behaim  set  up 
a  horoscope  for  Diirer.  In  the  fall  of  the  year 
1 5 17  Diirer  visited  Bamberg  and  put  up  at 
Behaim's  house.  Writing  to  Pirkheimer,  in 
October,  Behaim  reports  that  Diirer  has  made 
portraits  of  the  Bishop  of  Bamberg  and  of  his 


90    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

jester,  Sella.  "  Durer  is  always  invited  out,  so 
that  he  is  never  at  home  for  lunch.  He  was 
at  the  Bishop's  to-day,  portrayed  Sella,  and 
will  portray  the  Bishop  himself.  This  evening 
he  dines  with  the  Bishop ;  he  occupies  the  place 
of  honour  at  the  table."  On  the  next  day 
Behaim  writes :  "  I  would  like  to  write  more 
about  Durer,  but  he  is  always  disturbing  me  by 
his  chaffing  the  cook."  On  the  nth  of  the 
month  he  reports  great  honours  which  have  been 
bestowed  upon  Durer.  Two  years  later  he 
mentions  that  Durer  intends  "  visiting  England, 
or  that  miserable  country  Spain.  But  he  had 
better  abandon  that  project.  He  is  no  longer 
a  young  man,  and  one  of  delicate  build.  He 
might  not  be  able  to  stand  the  strain  of  the 
journey,  let  alone  the  difference  of  climate.  Since 
he  has  no  children  to  provide  for,  let  him  rest 
satisfied  with  his  income,  and  select  the  fulfil- 
ment of  a  quiet  life  in  the  service  of  God." 

But  the  spirit  of  wandering  had  again  seized 
Durer,  and,  though  nothing  came  either  of 
his  English  or  his  Spanish  project,  the  special 
inducement  already  noted  to  go  to  the  Nether- 
lands was  probably  a  most  welcome  excuse  since 
it  came  just  at  a  time  when  Durer  was  burning 
to  travel  anywhere. 


ALBRECHT  DURER  91 

Durer  set  out  with  his  wife  and  a  maid, 
on  the  1 2th  of  July  1520,  for  Bamberg,  where 
he  presented  a  painting  of  a  "  Madonna "  and 
some  prints  to  the  Bishop,  who  received  him 
graciously  and  granted  him  letters  patent,  with 
the  help  of  which  he  might  proceed  along  the 
river  Main  exempt  from  duties.  The  trip  by 
boat  took  eight  days  to  Frankfort,  another  to 
Mayence,  and  twenty-three  in  all  (including  the 
resting  days  in  the  towns)  to  Cologne.  Here 
he  meets  his  cousin  Nicholas  and  is  feted  in 
the  Franciscan  Convent.  On  the  28th  the 
journey  is  continued  down  the  Rhine  and  Maes  ; 
Antwerp  is  reached  on  the  2nd  of  August. 
"  Then  we  put  up  at  Jobst  Planckfeldt's,  and  on 
the  very  same  evening  the  Fugger  agent,  Bern- 
hard  Stecher  by  name,  invited  me,  and  gave  us 
a  dainty  meal ;  but  my  wife  ate  at  the  inn.  .  .  . 
Item,  on  Saturday  after  Vincula  Petri  mine  host 
brought  me  to  the  Mayor's  house  at  Antwerp, 
newly  built,  large  beyond  measure  and  well 
arranged,  with  unusually  fine,  big  rooms,  and 
many  of  them,  a  beautifully  ornamented  tower, 
a  very  large  garden,  in  fine,  so  magnificent 
a  house  as  I  have  not  seen  anywhere  in  Ger- 
many. .  .  .  And  on  Sunday,  St.  Oswalds 
day,  the  painters   invited   me  along  with  the 


92    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

wife  and  maid  to  their  hall,  and  all  was  laid 
out  with  silver  plate  and  other  precious  decora- 
tions and  superfine  fare.  All  their  womenfolk 
were  also  present.  And  as  I  was  led  to  table,  every- 
body got  up  at  both  sides,  just  as  when  great 
lords  are  led  in.  And  among  them  there  were 
quite  famous  men,  of  name,  who  all  behaved 
most  respectfully,  bowing  low  before  me.  And 
they  said  they  would  do  everything,  as  well  as 
they  knew  how,  to  please  me.  And  as  I  was 
sitting  honoured  thus  among  them,  a  messenger 
of  the  Council  of  Antwerp  came  to  me  with 
four  cans  of  wine,  and  offered  me  their  respects 
and  assured  me  of  their  goodwill."  And  others 
pay  their  respects  in  a  similarly  flattering  manner. 
He  visits  Quentin  Matsijs'  house,  and  Joachim 
Patenier  places  his  assistant  and  working  material 
at  Diirer's  disposal.  Diirer  admires  the  extrava- 
gant decorations  of  the  Antwerp  gild  prepared  for 
Charles  V.'s  entry.  Sebald  Fischer  improves  the 
shining  hour  (viz.  the  advertisement  that  Diirer's 
presence  affords),  and  buys  of  him,  for  retailing 
purposes,  sixteen  sets  of  the  "  Little  Passion," 
thirty-two  of  the  "  Large  Passion,"  "  Apocalypse," 
and  "Life  of  Mary,"  six  of  the  "Engraved  Passion," 
and  a  great  number  of  the  single  prints,  which 
are  sold  indiscriminately  according  to  their  size 


ADORATION  OF  THE  I  KIM  I  \ 
(From  tht  fainting  by  Albrtckt  DArtrai  Vienna) 


ALBRECHT  DURER  93 

as  half  sheets  and  quarter  sheets.  Diirer  draws 
likenesses  of  a  great  number  of  people  to  whom 
he  is  indebted,  and  gives  these  drawings  to  the 
sitters  ;  also  many  of  his  prints  to  friends. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  receives  numerous 
presents,  and  turns  into  a  collector  of  curios 
as  did  Rembrandt  about  a  century  later.  "  The 
Rent-warden  gave  me  a  child's  head  on  canvas. 
And  a  wooden  weapon  of  Calcutta,  and  also 
one  of  those  light  wood  reeds  (bambus).  And 
Tomasin  gave  me  a  hat  made  of  serried  elder- 
berry-stones. .  .  .  Master  Erasmus  (of  Rotter- 
dam, the  famous  humanist),  gave  me  a  Spanish 
mantle  and  three  male  portraits. " 

"  Item,  Our  Lady's  Church  at  Antwerp  is 
extremely  large,  so  that  many  different  Masses 
can  be  going  on  at  once  in  it,  none  disturbing 
the  other.  The  Church  boasts  of  much  vener- 
able paraphernalia  and  stone-sculptures,  and 
above  all  a  fine  tower.  And  there  are  the  best 
musicians  which  one  can  have  anywhere.  I  was 
also  in  the  rich  Abbey  of  St.  Michael,  which 
has  the  most  precious  triforium  of  carved  stone 
that  I  have  ever  seen,  and  exquisite  stalls  in 
the  choir.  And  at  Antwerp  they  don't  econo- 
mise in  these  things,  for  there  there  is  money 
enough."    Even  he  had  to  give  a  tip  occasionally 


94    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

when  he  wanted  to  see  a  painting  in  a  church 
which  was  not  generally  on  view.  On  August 
19  Diirer  sees  the  wonderful  procession  in 
honour  of  the  Virgin,  in  which  all  the  trades  and 
gilds  took  part,  and  which  took  two  hours  to 
pass  his  house.  He  gives  a  short  account  of 
it,  but  says  :  "  There  were  so  many  things  that  I 
couldn't  describe  them  all  in  a  whole  book ;  so 
I'll  let  it  rest  there." 

"  On  Sunday  after  St.  Bartholomew's  day  I 
rode  with  Master  Tomasin  from  Antwerp  to 
Malines,  where  we  lay  over  night ;  and  I  invited 
Master  Conrad  and  a  painter  with  him  to  supper. 
And  this  Master  Conrad  is  the  good  sculptor 
whom  Lady  Margaret  engages.  From  Malines 
we  rode  via  the  hamlet  Vilvorde,  and  arrived  at 
Brussels  Monday  noon.  ...  I  ate  with  the 
councillors  at  Brussels,  .  .  .  and  I  gave  my  letter 
of  introduction,  which  my  Lord  of  Bamberg  had 
written  to  the  Markgrave  John,  and  made  him 
a  present  of  the  engraved  '  Passion  '  therewith, 
to  make  him  think  of  me.  ...  In  the  Town 
Hall  at  Brussels,  in  the  Golden  Chamber,  I  saw 
the  four  painted  subjects  which  the  great  Master 
Roger  has  done.  In  the  King's  house  at  Brussels, 
out  at  the  back,  I  saw  the  fountains,  labyrinth, 
and   deer-park ;  these   are  jolly  things,  which 


ALBRECHT  DURER  95 

please  me,  like  a  paradise,  better  than  anything 
I've  ever  seen.  Item,  Erasmus  is  the  little  man 
who  set  up  my  petition "  (concerning  the  con- 
firmation of  the  grant ;  see  above),  "  at  Master 
James  Bonisius'  for  me.  Item,  at  Brussels  there 
is  a  very  fine  Town  Hall,  large  and  full  of 
beautiful  carvings,  with  a  magnificent  open-work 
tower.  ...  I  have  also  seen  the  things  which 
they  have  brought  for  the  King  out  of  the  new 
gold  country — a  sun  entirely  of  gold  a  fathom 
broad,  and  a  moon  of  silver  just  as  large.  Again, 
two  chambers  full  of  their  armour  and  all 
kinds  of  weapons — breastplates,  artillery,  strange 
shields,  queer  dress,  bedclothes,  and  various  won- 
derful things  for  sundry  usage,  which  are  much 
more  beautiful  to  look  at  than  outright  marvels. 
These  things  were  all  costly,  so  that  they  had 
been  estimated  at  a  hundred  thousand  florins 
value.  And  in  all  my  life  I've  never  seen  any- 
thing that  so  delighted  my  heart  as  these  things  ; 
for  I  perceived  therein  marvellously  artful  things, 
and  I  was  surprised  at  the  subtle  ingenuity  of  the 
people  in  strange  countries.  And  I  can't  express 
myself  about  the  things  I  had  there.  I  saw  many 
a  fine  thing  besides  at  Brussels,  and  especially  a 
big  fishbone,  as  if  one  had  made  it  of  masonry ; 
and  it  was  a  fathom  long  and  very  thick,  and 


96    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

weighed  15  cwt.,  and  had  such  a  shape  "  (Diirer's 
drawing  has  been  lost),  "  and  was  at  the  back  of 
the  fish's  head. 

"  And  1  also  was  in  the  house  of  the  Count 
of  Nassau,  which  is  so  magnificently  built  and 
beautifully  ornamented.  Item,  Lady  Margaret  " 
(Governess  of  the  Lowlands)  "  sent  for  me  at 
Brussels,  and  promised  me  to  speak  for  me  with 
King  Charles.  .  .  .  Item,  at  the  house  of  the 
Count  of  Nassau  I  saw  the  fine  picture  in  the 
chapel  which  Master  Hugh "  (van  der  Goes) 
"  has  done.  And  I  saw  the  two  handsome,  large 
halls,  and  all  the  treasures  and  the  great  bed, 
which  might  hold  fifty  people.  And  I  also  saw 
the  big  rock  which  the  storm  hurled  down  on 
the  field  next  to  my  Lord  of  Nassau.  This  house 
is  situated  up  high,  and  from  it  there  is  the 
most  astonishingly  beautiful  view,  and  I  don't 
believe  there  is  anything  like  it  in  all  German 
countries.  Item,  Master  Bernard"  (van  Orleij), 
"  the  painter,  invited  me,  and  set  out  so  delicious 
a  banquet  that  I  don't  believe  it  can  have  been 
done  for  10  florins.  .  .  .  And  to  Erasmus  Rotero- 
damus  I  made  a  present  of  my  engraved  '  Passion.' 
.  .  .  I  have  made  a  second  portrait-drawing  of 
Erasmus  Roterodamus." 

"  Item,  Ruderigo  gave  me   another  parrot." 


ALBRECHT  DURER  97 

(He  had  already  given  one  to  Durer's  wife.)  .  .  . 
"  Item,  I  gave  a  stiver  for  the  printed  description 
of  the  '  Entry  at  Antwerp,'  where  the  King  was 
received  in  glorious  triumph.  There  the  trium- 
phal arches  were  decorated  with  plays,  great 
gaiety,  and  dumb  shows  of  nude  maidens,  such 
as  I  have  seen  only  few."  Another  "  sight " 
that  he  speaks  about  is  the  giant  Brabo.  The 
Bolognese  painter,  Tommaso  Vincidor,  tells  him 
that  all  of  RafFaelo  Santi's  things  have  been 
scattered.  He  draws  a  portrait  of  Diirer  (which 
was  engraved  later,  in  1629,  by  A.  Stock),  and 
Diirer  gives  him  a  complete  set  of  his  prints ; 
also  a  second  set,  for  which  he  is  to  receive 
RafTaello  prints  in  return. 

On  the  4th  of  October  1520  Diirer  starts  for 
a  seven  weeks'  tour  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  to  find 
the  Emperor  there.  "  At  Aix-la-Chapelle  I  saw 
the  proportioned  columns,  with  their  fine  capitals 
of  porphyry,  green  and  red,  which  Charlemagne 
had  brought  thither  out  of  Rome  and  inserted. 
They  are  really  executed  according  to  Vitruvius' 
writings."  He  inspected  all  the  relics,  and  made 
a  drawing  of  the  Minster.  "  On  the  23rd  of 
October  they  crowned  Emperor  Charles  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  where  I  saw  all  splendid  magnificence, 
such  as  nobody  who  lives  among  us  ever  saw 

G 


98    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

finer."  At  last  Diirer  can  write  :  "  On  Monday 
after  St.  Martin's  Day  (12th  of  Nov.  1520), 
after  much  trouble  and  work,  the  confirmation 
of  the  Emperor  for  the  Council  at  Nuremberg 
came  to  hand."  Via  Cologne  and  the  Rhine  he 
returns  to  Antwerp  to  fetch  his  wife ;  but  nearly 
three-quarters  of  a  year  pass  before  he  really 
starts  for  home.  The  seven  weeks  he  was  gone, 
his  wife  and  the  maid's  keep  cost  seven  crowns, 
and  she  had  bought  things  for  four  further  florins. 
"  On  St.  Martin's  Day  some  one  cut  oflf  my 
wife's  purse,  in  Our  Lady's  Church  at  Antwerp, 
in  which  there  were  1 1  florins.  The  purse  and 
what  else  there  was  in  it  was  also  worth  a  florin, 
and  there  were  some  keys  in  it." 

Diirer  hears  of  a  tremendous  whale  that  has 
been  washed  ashore  near  Ziericksee,  and  Diirer 
would  like  to  see  it.  On  December  3rd  he 
starts  out  for  a  trip  to  Zeeland.  From  Berghen- 
op-Zoom  the  trip  was  continued  by  boat,  and 
he  passed  flooded  districts,  where  merely  the 
tops  of  roofs  appeared  above  the  waters.  At 
Arnemuijden  he  had  a  serious  accident.  When 
he  was  about  to  disembark,  a  large  vessel  ran 
up  against  the  boat,  so  that  the  ropes  broke 
and  they  were  cast  adrift.  No  one  but  he,  a 
Nuremberg  friend,  two  old  women,  a  boy,  and 


ALBRECHT  DURER  99 

the  boatman  were  on  board,  and  a  hurricane 
suddenly  sprang  up,  forcing  them  out  into  the 
open.  The  sailors  were  on  shore ;  nobody 
dared  to  come  out  and  help  them.  Diirer 
quieted  the  frantic  boatman,  and  told  him  to 
reflect  what  had  best  be  done.  They  then  raised 
a  small  sail  and  managed  to  pull  up  to  the 
shore  again.  In  Middelburg  he  admired  the 
Town  Hall,  and  the  choir  stalls  in  the  St. 
Nicholas  Abbey,  and  other  beautiful  works  of 
art.  By  the  time  they  reached  Ziericksee,  the 
flood — Fortuna,  as  Diirer  calls  it — had  already 
washed  the  whale  away. 

Back  at  Antwerp  again  he  dines  several  times 
in  the  company  of  Erasmus.  Like  our  modern 
travellers  he  has  to  give  a  tip  of  a  stiver  in 
order  to  get  up  on  the  high  cathedral  tower. 
His  accounts  show  that  he  sold  not  only  his 
own  paintings,  drawings,  and  prints,  but  also 
work  by  other  masters — for  instance,  fine  prints 
by  Hans  Baldung. 

Upon  the  6th  of  April  Diirer  started  upon 
another  tour  in  the  company  of  the  painter 
Jan  Prevost.  He  visited  Bruges,  where  he 
admired  the  paintings  of  Rogier  van  der 
Weijden,  Hugo  van  der  Goes,  and  Jan  van 
Eijck,  and  the  so-called  "  Madonna  of  Bruges," 


ioo    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

which  he  speaks  of  positively  as  the  work  of 
Michelangelo  Buonarotti.  The  Painters'  Gild 
honour  him  with  a  great  banquet  and  a  gift  of 
wine.  Then  he  visits  Ghent,  where  he  is  feted 
similarly  by  the  painters.  He  is  enthusiastic 
about  the  famous  Van  Eijck  altar-piece,  which 
he  styles  " John's  panel"  (thus  not  mentioning 
Hubert).  But  the  lions  which  happen  to  be 
kept  at  Ghent  interest  him  scarcely  less,  and  he 
sketches  one  of  them. 

Returned  to  Antwerp  he  falls  ill.  "  Item,  in 
the  third  week  after  Easter  (April  14-20),  I  fell 
into  a  high  fever,  with  fits  of  fainting  and  head- 
ache. And  lately,  when  I  was  in  Zeeland,  a 
strange  illness  came  upon  me,  such  as  I  have 
never  heard  of  from  any  man,  and  this  illness 
I  still  am  suffering  from."  Diirer  drew  a  picture 
of  himself  later  on,  with  his  finger  pointing 
towards  the  region  where  the  spleen  is  located, 
and  wrote  on  the  sketch :  "  There  where  the 
yellow  spot  is,  at  which  the  finger  is  pointing, 
there  I  have  pains." 

Upon  the  5  th  of  June  he  seems  gradually  to 
be  thinking  of  returning  home ;  on  this  day,  at 
any  rate,  he  sends  a  great  bale  of  goods  to  be 
taken  home  by  the  carrier  Cunz  Mez  of 
Schlaudersdorf.    On  the  next  day  he  goes  to 


ALBRECHT  DURER 


Malines,  where  the  painters  honour  him  as  they 
did  everywhere  else,  and  where  he  visits  the 
Archduchess  Margaret.  She  does  not  approve 
of  his  portrait  of  Emperor  Maximilian,  which 
he  really  had  intended  to  make  her  a  present 
of.  He  is,  quite  the  contrary,  very  enthusiastic 
about  her  miniatures,  paintings,  and  books. 
Shortly  after  his  return  to  Antwerp,  he 
writes :  "  Master  Luke,  the  one  who  engraves 
on  copper,  invited  me  ;  he  is  quite  a  little  man, 
a  native  of  Leiden  in  Holland ;  he  happened  to 
be  at  Antwerp." 

Just  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  departing,  on 
the  2nd  of  July,  the  King  of  Denmark  sends 
for  Durer.  He  eats  with  the  King,  and  makes 
a  portrait-drawing  of  him.  The  personal  appear- 
ance of  the  King,  and  his  courage — with  only 
three  retainers  he  boldly  rode  through  the 
enemy's  country — were  greatly  admired.  In  his 
following  Durer  proceeds  to  Brussels,  and 
witnesses  the  ceremonies  of  the  meeting  of 
Emperor,  King,  and  Archduchess,  enlivened  by 
fine  banquets.  To  the  second  of  these,  tendered 
by  the  King,  Durer  is  personally  invited  by  his 
Majesty ;  he  then  paints  the  King's  portrait,  for 
which  he  receives  thirty  florins. 

On  the  1 2th  of  July  he  leaves  definitely  for 


102    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

home.  Cologne  is  reached  on  the  15th,  and 
there  the  diary  stops. 

After  his  return  to  Nuremberg  Diirer  drew 
some  few  designs  for  woodcuts,  engraved  only 
five  portraits  and  three  small  plates  of  apostles, 
and  painted  probably  not  more  than  half-a- 
dozen  pictures.  The  most  important  of  these 
were — besides  the  Muffel  and  Holzschuher  por- 
traits, both  at  Berlin — the  c<  Four  Apostles,"  also 
called  the  "Four  Temperaments,"  now  at  Munich. 
These  "  Four  Apostles  "  Diirer  painted  for  the 
city  of  Nuremberg.  Some  time  before  the  middle 
of  October,  in  the  year  1524,  he  had  petitioned 
the  Municipal  Council  of  his  native  city  with 
the  following  letter  : — 

"  After  many  years  I  have,  through  no  end 
of  labour  and  with  the  help  of  God,  earned 
and  put  by  as  much  as  a  thousand  Rhenish 
florins,  which  I  would  now  very  much  like  to 
invest  for  my  maintenance.  Although  I  know 
that  it  is  not  customary  nowadays  with  your 
Honours  to  take  up  much  money  at  the  rate 
of  one  florin  for  twenty  (i.e.  5  per  cent, 
interest),  as  has  already  been  signified  to  other 
people  than  myself  and  refused  them,  yet  in 
spite  of  my  misgivings  about  approaching  you 
in  this  matter,  I  am  moved  by  my  want,  and 


ALBRECHT  DURER  103 

above  all  by  the  favourable  disposition  which, 
as  I  have  frequently  noticed,  your  Honours  have 
towards  me,  also  by  circumstances  which  I  am 
about  to  relate — to  solicit  your  Honours  in  this 
wise  notwithstanding.  For,  your  Honours  will 
well  know,  how  obedient,  willing,  and  con- 
scientious I  have  shown  myself  heretofore, 
above  many  other  persons  here,  in  the  execution 
of  such  affairs  as  your  Honours  entrusted  to  me, 
and  that  when  Members  of  the  Council  or  com- 
munity, were  in  need  of  my  help,  art,  or  work, 
I  served  oftener  for  nothing  than  for  a  money 
consideration.  And  I  have,  as  I  may  write 
with  truth,  throughout  all  the  thirty  years  that 
I  have  remained  at  home,  not  had  500  florins 
worth  of  work  in  this  town,  which  is  a  trifle 
and  shameful,  and  of  which  not  a  fifth  part 
will  have  been  real  profit  ;  rather,  the  little 
I  have,  which  God  knows  I  had  to  work  hard 
enough  for,  was  earned  off  Princes,  Lords, 
and  other  foreign  people,  so  that  I  am  really 
only  spending  here  what  I  have  earned  abroad. 
Your  Honours  doubtless  will  know  that  the  late 
Emperor  Maximilian,  of  revered  memory,  wanted 
of  his  own  accord  to  set  me  free  (of  taxation) 
in  this  city  many  years  ago.  But  after  several 
of  the  Elders  of  the  Council,  who  dealt  with 


io4    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

me  about  the  matter,  advised  me,  I  voluntarily 
relinquished  the  privilege,  so  that  the  rights, 
customs,  and  prerogatives  of  the  Council,  my 
masters,  should  not  be  impaired.  Again,  the 
Signorie  at  Venice,  nineteen  years  ago,  desired 
to  keep  me  and  wanted  to  confer  a  yearly 
pension  of  200  ducats  upon  me.  And  similarly 
the  Council  of  Antwerp,  recently  when  I  was  in 
the  Lowlands,  wanted  to  give  me  yearly  a  salary 
of  three  hundred  Philipps  florins,  free  me  of  the 
guild  and  present  me  with  a  nicely  built  house ; 
and  at  both  places  they  wanted  over  and  above 
this,  to  pay  for  every  single  thing  that  I  might 
work  for  the  city.  All  of  which  I  declined  out 
of  love  for  your  Honours  and  for  this  city  as 
my  native  place,  and  I  chose  to  live  with  your 
Honours  in  moderate  circumstances  rather  than 
be  esteemed  for  much  and  made  rich  in  other 
towns.  And  this  then  is  my  very  dutiful  peti- 
tion to  your  Honours,  that  you,  considering  all 
these  things,  will  take  my  thousand  florins,  which 
I  could  well  place  with  other  safe  and  sound 
companies  here  and  elsewhere,  but  which  I  not- 
withstanding would  like  best  to  leave  with  your 
Honours,  and  out  of  particular  graciousness 
give  me  fifty  florins  a  year  interest  on  them,  so 
that  I,  with  my  wife,  who  are  both  of  us  grow- 


THE  FOUR  APOSTLE! 

{Munich) 


ALBRECHT  DURER  105 

ing  old,  weak,  and  unable  to  do  work  as  the 
days  go  by,  on  account  of  which  we  require  a 
decent  maintenance  all  the  more,  may  enjoy 
your  Honours'  particular  favour  and  kindness 
as  we  have  done  until  now." 

The  petition  was  granted,  and  this  may  have 
been  one  of  the  reasons  to  induce  Diirer  to 
dedicate  what  he  deemed  the  crowning  work 
of  his  life,  the  "  Four  Apostles/'  to  his  native 
city.  The  letter  with  which  he  accompanied 
the  two  panels  runs  thus :  "  Although  I  have 
for  some  time  intended  to  present  to  your 
Honours  one  of  my  modest  efforts,  I  have 
been  prevented  from  carrying  out  this  plan, 
because  of  the  unworthiness  of  my  work,  which, 
I  know,  ought  not  to  have  dared  to  show  itself 
in  your  presence.  However,  having  recently 
painted  a  panel  and  devoted  more  care  to  it 
than  to  any  other  work,  I  esteem  nobody  more 
fit  to  keep  it  in  memory  of  me  than  your 
Honours.  Therefore  I  beg  to  proffer  it  here- 
with, begging  you  most  humbly  and  earnestly, 
graciously  to  accept  my  little  present  with  favour, 
and  be  and  remain  my  esteemed,  well  disposed 
Masters,  as  I  have  found  you  in  all  matters  here- 
tofore. To  deserve  which,  on  the  part  of  your 
Honours,!  shall  in  all  humility  continue  to  strive." 


io6    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Diirer  selected  texts  from  the  New  Testament 
for  these  pictures,  which  Neudorffer  executed. 
They  reflect  the  religious  excitement  of  the 
times,  and  contain  a  plea  for  Lutheranism  as  well 
as  a  condemnation  of  Anabaptism.  At  heart 
Diirer  inclined  to  Luther.  To  Spalatin  he 
wrote  :  "  And  if  God  helps  me  so  as  to  come 
to  Doctor  Martinus  Luther,  then  I  will  try  to 
take  his  portrait  most  carefully  and  engrave  it, 
so  as  better  to  preserve  the  memory  of  this 
Christian  man,  who  has  helped  me  out  of  great 
tribulation. "  When  the  false  report  of  Luther's 
capture  reaches  him  in  the  Lowlands,  he  suddenly 
introduces  an  uncommonly  warm  defence  of  the 
Reformer,  and  lamentation  over  his  supposed 
capture.  He  breaks  out  strongly  against  Popery. 
And  after  his  return  from  the  Lowlands,  Diirer 
wrote  intensely  anti-Catholic  words  upon  a  copy 
of  Ostendorfer's  woodcut  "  The  Veneration  of 
the  Virgin  of  Ratisbon."  But  Diirer  was  not  the 
kind  of  man  to  be  a  martyr.  He  never  actually 
renounced  Catholicism.  During  his  journey  in 
the  Lowlands  his  wife,  and  probably  he,  con- 
fessed ;  and  it  has  been  recently  shown  that  his 
rather  sudden  return  to  Nuremberg  in  the  end 
was  the  result  of  his  being  frightened  of  the 
Inquisition. 


ALBRECHT  DURER  107 

As  has  already  been  stated,  most  of  his  time 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life  was  unfortunately 
devoted  to  theoretical  publications.  He  died 
in  the  well-known  house,  which  to  this  day  is 
the  goal  of  thousands  of  pilgrims,  at  Nuremberg, 
on  the  6th  of  April  1528. 

His  death  was  mourned  as  never  an  artist's 
death  in  Germany  had  been  before  him.  A  lock 
of  his  hair  was  sent  as  a  memento  to  his  friend 
Hans  Baldung.  Pirkheimer  was  heartbroken.  He 
and  Eoban  Hesse  wrote  funereal  elegies  which 
contained  encomiums  of  the  highest  order. 
In  a  letter  to  Vanbiihler,  Pirkheimer  wrote : 
"  For  among  all  people,  who  were  not  blood 
relations,  I  loved  no  one  so  dearly,  nor  esteemed 
any  one  so  highly  as  him  on  account  of  his  in- 
numerable virtues  and  his  rare  righteousness. " 
Luther  wrote  to  Hesse  :  "  As  regards  Diirer,  it 
behoves  a  pious  man  to  mourn  for  this  best  of 
men.  You,  however,  may  well  esteem  him 
happy,  that  Christ  had  enlightened  him  and  took 
him  off  betimes  out  of  this  stormy  and  most 
likely  soon  still  stormier  era,  so  that  he,  worthy 
of  seeing  only  the  best,  was  not  compelled  to  see 
the  very  worst.  May  he  rest  in  peace,  among 
his  fathers.  Amen."  Melanchthon  wrote  :  u  It 
grieves  me   sorely,  to    see    Germany  bereaved 


108    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

of  such  an  artist,  such  a  man ! "  Erasmus 
of  Rotterdam  had  just  published  the  passage : 
"  I  have  known  Diirer's  name  for  a  long  time 
as  of  first  renown  in  the  art  of  painting.  Some 
style  him  the  Apelles  of  our  day.  But  I 
believe,  were  Apelles  living,  he  would  in 
honesty  have  yielded  the  palm  to  Diirer.  Apelles 
made  use  of  few  and  modest  colours,  yet  he  did 
use  colours.  Diirer,  however,  setting  aside  what 
else  he  is  to  be  admired  for — what  does  he  not 
express  by  means  of  monochrome,  i.e.  by  means  of 
black  lines!  Shadow  and  light,  brilliancy,  the 
vanishing  and  protrusion  in  perspective ;  and 
further,  as  occasion  offers,  he  presents  not  only 
the  actual  appearance  of  objects  as  we  see  them, 
but  observes  beyond  this,  perfect  symmetry  and 
harmony.  Yes,  indeed  he  knows  how  to  put  upon 
the  canvas  things  that  scarcely  yield  themselves  to 
pictorial  treatment,  such  as  fire,  rays,  storms, 
lightning,  heat-lightning,  and  fog,  they  say ;  all 
the  passions,  the  entire  soul  of  man  divulged  by 
the  body,  in  fact,  almost  language  itself!  All 
this  he  presents  to  the  eye  so  happily  with  those 
simple  black  lines,  that  the  picture  would  suffer 
if  one  were  to  colour  it.  Is  it  not  more  ad- 
mirable to  attain  that  without  the  meretricious 


ALBRECHT  DURER  109 

charm  of  colour,  than  with  it  as  did  Apelles  ? " 
And  Camerarius  said  of  Diirer :  "  If  there  was 
anything  connected  with  this  man,  which  at  least 
resembled  a  fault,  it  was  solely  his  immoderate 
application  and  his  self-criticism  which  he  fre- 
quently practised  until  he  became  unjust." 

Not  only  his  own  countrymen,  however,  readily 
admitted  Durer's  superior  virtues.  Vasari  states, 
in  the  "  Life  of  Andrea  d'Angeli,"  that  Andrea 
borrowed  figures  from  Durer's  engravings  for  his 
u  St.  John  Baptizing,"  and  for  other  pictures. 
Of  Pontormo  he  relates  that  he  likewise 
borrowed  a  landscape  of  Diirer  for  his  "  Pieta," 
and  the'  compositions  out  of  Durer's  sets  for  his 
series  of  the  "  Passion "  in  the  Certosa  near 
Florence.  He  adds  :  "  Let  no  one  believe  that 
Jacopo  deserves  censure  for  imitating  the  inven- 
tions of  Albrecht  Diirer,  for  many  painters  have 
done  this  and  still  continue  to  do  so."  Speaking 
of  a  "  Bacchanale  "  by  Giovanni  Bellini,  Vasari 
says  :  "  If  there  be  some  lack  of  flow  in  the 
drapery,  according  to  the  German  taste,  ap- 
parent in  it,  that  does  not  matter  much,  for 
he  was  imitating  a  panel  by  Albrecht  Diirer,  who 
came  to  Venice  in  those  days,  which  had  been 
set  up  in  the  Church  of  St.  Bartholomew,  a  rare 


no    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


work  with  many  figures  painted  in  oils."  In  the 
"  Life  of  Raimondi  "  he  enumerates  a  great  num- 
ber of  Diirer's  engravings  and  woodcuts  :  "  I  would 
gladly  believe  that  it  was  not  a  matter  of  chance 
that  Diirer  could  do  superior  things,  for  he 
lacked  good  models,  and  when  working  from  the 
nude,  had  to  draw  after  one  of  his  prentice  lads, 
who  must  have  been  badly  grown,  as  is  com- 
monly the  case  in  Germany,  though  many  a  man 
there  has  fine  enough  a  figure  in  his  clothes." 
Speaking  of  the  "  Life  of  the  Virgin  "  :  4  *  It  is  so 
beautiful  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  surpass 
it  in  invention,  perspective,  architecture  and 
drapery,  old  heads  and  young.  Indeed,  if  this 
rare  and  diligent  artist  had  had  Toscana  instead 
of  Flanders  (sic  /)  for  his  home,  and  had  been 
able  like  us  to  study  the  treasures  at  Rome,  he 
would  have  been  one  of  the  best  painters  in  our 
country,  just  as  he  was  the  rarest  and  most 
celebrated  master  Flanders  ever  possessed." 
Finally  he  lauds  Diirer's  paintings,  and  even  his 
scientific  works.  Campagnola  also  belongs  to  the 
Italian  artists  who  borrowed  from  Diirer,  and  the 
compliment  Marcantonio  Raimondi  paid  him  by 
copying  a  whole  set  of  his  woodcuts  is  well  known. 
To  close  with  RafFaello  Santi — with  whom  Diirer 


ALBRECHT  DURER  in 


had  a  friendly  interchange  of  works — he  ex- 
claimed, upon  seeing  some  of  Diirer's  designs : 
"  Indeed  he  would  surpass  us  all,  if,  like  us,  he 
were  to  have  continually  the  works  of  the  old 
masters  before  him." 


CHAPTER  IV 


HANS  BURGKMAIR,  HANS  BALDUNG,  AND 
MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD 

"  It  is  a  matter  for  unceasing  lament  that  our 
ancestors  in  Germany  were  so  sluggish  and  dila- 
tory, in  so  far  as  they,  although  they  could 
claim  many  fine  masters  in  art,  neglected  to  make 
note  of  their  repute,  craft,  and  teaching,  for  the 
better  information,  imitation,  and  encouragement 
of  posterity,  and  for  the  sake  of  history.  It  is 
quite  certain  that  if  I  had  not  intervened  with 
the  present  necessary  book,  and  had  jotted  down 
that  which  I  could  gather,  in  part  by  word  of 
mouth,  from  the  oldest  living  artists,  in  part  by 
my  eyes  (in  the  course  of  my  travels),  their 
great  excellence  might  have  quite  vanished  and 
been  altogether  forgotten,  so  that  our  descen- 
dants would  have  known  nothing  about  their 
craft  and  virtue.  This  would  have  happened, 
beyond  a  doubt,  in  the  case  of  Hans  Burgkmair, 
who,  as  can  be  gleaned  from  his  work,  must  have 


HANS  BURGKMAIR  113 

been  an  apprentice  and  disciple  of  Albrecht  Durer, 
in  which  "  (supposition)  "  I  am  confirmed  by  his 
own  portrait,  drawn  in  black  crayon,  which  I 
keep  in  my  book  of  drawings.  It  bears  the 
monogram  and  Burgkmair's  name,  and  that 
he  was  forty-four  years  old  in  15 17. 

"  This  most  worthy  man's  laudable  work  ap- 
pears in  many  books,  such  as  the  one  in  honour 
of  Emperor  Maximilian,  his  serious  and  light 
adventures,  wherein  are  to  be  found  numerous 
neat  and  beautiful  woodcuts  by  his  "  (Burgkmair's) 
"  hand,  which  show  to  a  sufficiency  the  overflow 
of  his  understanding.  Alongside  of  this  he 
executed  a  still  finer  work,  which  embraces  nigh 
upon  100  royal  sheets  in  woodcut  such  as  have 
never  been  issued  anywhere  before,  likewise  in 
honour  of  the  said  Emperor.  It  shows  beautiful 
and  variously  shaped  triumphal  chariots — four 
among  them  by  the  hand  of  Durer  himself,  others 
by  Burgkmair,  with  and  without  horses — which 
are  pulled  by  men  or  propelled  by  curious  in- 
ternal mechanisms ;  before  others,  however,  stags 
and  various  other  animals  have  been  harnessed. 
He  has  further  peopled  some  of  the  cars  with 
musicians,  and  on  some  of  them  the  virtues  of 
the  Emperor  are  impersonated,  upon  others  a 
part  of  his  retinue.    Heralds  head  the  procession 

H 


1 14    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

of  riders,  then  follow  officers  of  the  law,  and  so 
on  down  to  the  military  servants,  on  water,  on 
horseback,  and  on  foot,  along  with  more  than 
a  hundred  other  persons ;  likewise  rear-guard, 
sutlers,  and  such  kind  according  to  their  rank, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  all  done  in  so 
stately  a  fashion  that  never  anything  can  have 
been  done  more  magnificent,  neat,  and  full  of 
art.  Why  this  beautiful  work  never  appeared, 
whether  it  was  on  account  of  the  lamentable 
departure  of  the  Emperor,  or  for  what  other 
cause  I  do  not  know,  for  all  that  I  have 
ever  seen  of  it  is  a  set  of  trial  impressions, 
and  a  complete  set  with  inscriptions  has  never 
been  found.  This  same  set  my  dear  friend, 
Matthew  Merian  the  elder,  let  me  have  as  a  great 
favour,  who  had  the  book  of  the  art  dealer  Mitner. 
The  said  Mitner  assured  him  at  the  time  that 
the  original  blocks  were  kept  in  a  shop  "  (Sandrart 
calls  it  a  "  vault ")  "  at  Augsburg.  When,  there- 
upon, the  honourable  Van  Spiring  saw  this 
beautiful  book  in  my  possession,  I  did  not  desire 
to  cross  his  art-longing,  but  tried  with  great 
trouble  to  see  whether  I  could  not  lay  hold  of 
these  blocks.  But  in  the  end  I  could  not  find 
anything  except  a  sheet  of  the  procession  of  noble 
Pioneers,  and  the  march  of  a  disordered  band  of 


HANS  BURGKMAIR  115 

soldiery.  Wherefore  I  greatly  fear  that  they  must 
have  been  lately  consumed  by  fire. 

"  This  Burgkmair  painted  a  corner  house  of 
the  Count  Fugger  residence  at  Augsburg  on  the 
Wine  Market-place,  most  ingeniously,  likewise  a 
house  opposite  the  Church  of  St.  Anne,  where 
he  represented  ingeniously  and  skilfully  upon 
the  walls  various  artists,  done  so  well  in  colours 
that,  although  it  is  exposed  to  wind,  rain,  sun- 
shine, and  other  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  it 
has  not  faded  or  lost  a  trifle  after  so  many  years. 
The  Convent  of  St.  Catherine,  in  the  same  city, 
possesses  by  his  hand  a  very  large  panel  in  the 
cloisters,  which  represents  the  seven  churches  of 
Rome  which  are  visited  by  pilgrims  of  all  nations, 
among  them  St.  Ursula  with  her  large  following. 
And  although  the  figures  are  small,  on  account 
of  their  great  numbers,  still  the  work  is  to  be 
highly  esteemed  on  account  of  its  rare  invention, 
excellent  action,  and  the  strange  costumes  neatly 
done." 

The  year  1473,  as  Burgkmair's  birth-year,  is 
corroborated  by  the  inscription  on  his  portrait  of 
himself  and  his  wife,  now  in  the  Gallery  at 
Vienna,  and  by  the  inscription  on  a  medallion- 
portrait,  a  wood-carving,  at  Berlin.  He  was  not 
a  pupil,  scarcely  an  imitator,  but  a  friendly  rival 


n6    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

of  Diirer ;  he  had  received  his  instructions  from 
his  father,  and  probably  had  visited  Italy  as  an 
apprentice.  He  was  freed  of  the  Guild  at  Augs- 
burg in  the  year  1498.  The  principal  books  for 
which  Burgkmair  designed  woodcuts  are  the 
"Weisskunig"  (119  sheets),  the  "Thewrdank" 
(14  sheets),  and  the  "  Genealogy  of  the  Em- 
peror" (77  sheets). 

The  set  of  remarkable  proofs  of  the 
"  Triumphal  Procession,"  which  Sandrart  once 
owned,  has  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
Royal  Print  Room  at  Dresden.  A  most  im- 
portant feature  of  Burgkmair's  woodcut  work 
are  his  clair-obscurs.  They  belong  to  the  earliest 
and  most  beautiful  specimens  of  the  art ;  most 
of  them  were  probably  cut  upon  the  block  by 
Jost  de  Negker.  The  "Saint  George,"  an 
"  Allegory  of  Death,"  "Emperor  Maximilian  II. 
on  Horseback,"  a  "  Portrait  of  Baumgartner," 
and  one  of  "  Pope  Julius  II.,"  are  especially 
noteworthy. 

The  mural  paintings  on  the  house  opposite 
St.  Anne's  Church  have  withstood  the  inclemencies 
of  the  climate  down  to  our  own  times ;  but,  in 
the  middle  of  the  seventies  of  last  century,  they 
are  already  spoken  of  as  scarcely  recognisable. 
The  Fugger  paintings  have  not  been  preserved. 


HANS  BALDUNG  117 

The  work  in  the  cloisters  of  the  St.  Catherine 
Convent  consisted  of  a  series  of  pictures  repre- 
senting the  hallowed  churches  of  Rome  to  which 
the  pilgrims  throng.  Burgkmair  painted  three 
of  the  series,  and  they  are  now  in  the  Augsburg 
Gallery.  Other  important  paintings  by  him, 
beyond  those  already  mentioned,  are — at  Augs- 
burg, a  Triptych  (15 19),  the  "Battle  of 
Cannae,"  "  Emperor  Henry  "  and  "St.  George"; 
at  Berlin,  a  "Holy  Family  "  (15 11);  at  Munich, 
a  copy  of  Schongauer's  "  Self-portrait,"  "  Duke 
William  of  Bavaria,"  "  Esther  and  Ahasuerus," 
"  St.  John  on  the  Isle  of  Patmos  "  ;  at  Nuremberg, 
"St.  Christopher,"  "St.  Vitus,"  "St.  Sebastian," 
"The  Virgin  with  the  Grape"  (15 10),  and  a 
"Madonna"  (with  a  fine  landscape,  1509). 
Burgkmair  died,  1531,  at  Augsburg. 

The  justice  of  Sandrart's  complaint  as  to  the 
negligence  of  the  early  Renaissance  generation, 
which  has  failed  to  collect  and  preserve  informa- 
tion about  its  great  artists  for  the  use  of  posterity, 
appears  in  full  force  in  the  case  of  Hans  Baldung. 
How  well  he  was  esteemed  in  his  own  day  may 
be  gleaned  from  the  circumstance  that  he  is 
referred  to  in  Jean  Pelerin's  De  Artificiale  Per- 
spectiva  (1521);  further,  by  his  friendship  with 
Durer,  who  took  some  of  his  work  along  with 


n8    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

him  to  sell  on  his  journey  to  the  Lowlands.  A 
lock  of  Diirer's  hair  was  sent  to  Baldung  when 
Diirer  died. 

But  Sandrart  mentions  him  by  his  right  name 
only  in  the  brief  passage  where  he  establishes 
the  priority  and  superiority  of  the  Germans  over 
the  Italians  in  the  matter  of  engraving  and  wood- 
cut. He  says  the  latter  is  proved  by  three 
works  alone,  namely,  "  St.  Anne  and  the  Virgin," 
by  Diirer;  "Adam  and  Eve,"  by  Cranach ;  and 
"  The  Ostler,"  by  Baldung.  Farther  on,  San- 
drart discusses  this  master,  but  under  a  wrong 
name.    This  is  the  way  the  passage  runs : — 

"  At  the  same  time  "  (as  Matthaeus  Griinewald) 
"there  lived  another  excellent  man  called  Hans 
Griinewald,  of  whom  just  as  little  is  known  as  of 
the  said  Matthaeus,  except  that  the  wings  of  the 
altar-piece  by  Diirer,  mentioned  above,  the  out- 
side of  which  Matthaeus  of  Aschaffenburg  painted, 
were  painted  inside,  carefully  and  ably,  by  this 
Hans  Griinewald.  Over  and  above  this,  we 
possess  a  number  of  drawings  by  this  hand,  and 
also  a  woodcut  of  several  fat,  naked  women, 
sitting  about  a  fire,  with  ointment  pots,  pitch- 
forks, and  he-goats  as  if  about  to  ride  off  to 
a  witch  assembly,  and  many  other  things  of 
this  kind.    No  more  about  the  life  and  death 


HANS  BALDUNG  119 

of  this  artist  is  known  ;  notwithstanding,  I  have 
deemed  him  worthy  of  being  placed  by  the  side 
of  other  famous  masters,  and  being  thus  protected 
from  the  envious  grasp  of  Time.  May  the  re- 
port of  his  virtues  and  his  art  be  awakened  to 
renewed  life  by  the  laudable  bugle  call  of  Fame." 

Hans  Baldung  was  born  about  the  year  1480 
in  the  hamlet  Weyersheim,  not  far  from  Strass- 
burg.  His  family  hailed  from  Gmund,  in 
Suabia.  His  father  was  a  legal  official  in  the 
service  of  the  Bishop  of  Strassburg.  It  is  very 
likely  that  Baldung  learned  his  craft  between 
the  years  1500  and  1506,  under  Diirer  at 
Nuremberg.  The  earliest  known  signed  work 
is  dated  1507.  Two  years  later,  on  the  17th 
of  April,  he  bought  the  right  of  citizenship  at 
Strassburg,  and  in  15 10  he  married  B.  Margaret 
Herlin,  who  survived  him.  From  about  15 12 
to  15 16  he  was  living  at  Freiburg,  in  the 
Breisgau,  about  fifty  miles  distant  from  Strass- 
burg, where  he  painted  for  the  cathedral  the 
large  main  altar,  at  least  one  side  altar-piece, 
and  a  number  of  stained-glass  windows.  From 
1 5 17  he  appears  to  have  lived  uninterruptedly 
in  Strassburg,  where  he  became  court-painter  to 
the  bishop,  and  in  1545  member  of  the  Muni- 
cipal Council.    He  died  in  the  same  year.  His 


120    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

surname  Grien  (Griin)  was  bestowed  upon  him 
on  account  of  his  predilection  for  this  colour, 
green,  either  in  his  own  dress  or  in  his  pictures. 

He  experienced  the  influence  of  Schongauer 
and  Griinewald,  besides  that  of  Diirer.  This  is 
shown  plainly  by  the  Freiburg  main  altar-piece, 
which,  with  its  eleven  panels,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  among  the  German  religious 
paintings  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  subject 
of  the  central  panel  is  a  "  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin."  The  shutters  outside  discover  four 
scenes  from  the  life  of  the  Virgin — a  masterly 
•  night  scene,'  the  "  Nativity,"  and  a  charming 
"  Flight  into  Egypt  "  among  them. 

Among  other  important  paintings  of  his  there 
are — at  Basle,  "  Death  Assaulting  a  Young 
Woman"  (15 17);  at  Berlin,  4 'The  Martyrdom 
of  St.  Stephen "  and  a  "  Pieta "  ;  at  Budapest, 
"Adam  and  Eve";  at  London,  a  "  Pieta"; 
several  pictures  at  Strassburg ;  a  portrait  at 
Vienna.  Baldung  painted  a  number  of  works 
for  Christopher  Marggrave  of  Baden,  a  woodcut 
portrait  of  whom  he  had  designed  as  early  as 
the  year  1 5 1 1 .  We  possess  portraits  by  his 
hand  from  15 13  onward,  and  pictures  of  nudes 
— at  that  time  still  a  rare  subject  for  a  Cisalpine 
painter  to  be  interested  in — from  15 17  on. 


HANS  BALDUNG  121 

Baldung  has  also  engraved  a  few  plates  on 
copper.  The  best-known  one  takes  up  a  theme 
which  was  popular  long  before  his  day — the  old 
dotard,  who  is  beguiled  by  a  young  frail  woman, 
and  imagines  she  hankers  after  his  love,  whereas 
she  is  only  interested  in  his  money.  The  best  is 
at  once  the  least  known,  a  wonderful,  impressive 
"  Pieta,"  a  rare  little  round  piece,  only  two  and  a 
quarter  inches  in  diameter. 

Baldung  felt  most  at  home  when  he  was 
designing  stained-glass  windows  or  disks,  and 
when  he  was  working  for  the  woodcutter.  The 
Minster  at  Freiburg  preserves  fine  specimens  of 
his  craft  as  a  stained-glass  artist,  others  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Museums  of  Applied  Arts  at  Basle, 
Berlin,  Freiburg,  Karlsruhe,  and  Nuremberg.  In 
his  woodcuts  his  imagination  plays  freely,  and 
he  engages  unrestrainedly  upon  work  which  in- 
terests him,  whether  it  pleased  the  public  of  his 
times  or  not.  He  delights  in  bold  drawing, 
difficult  foreshortenings,  and  in  a  fine  sensuous 
type  of  men  and  women.  His  studies  of  the 
nude  are  singularly  powerful,  and  the  style  of 
his  art  is  pre-eminently  unconventional,  of  the 
type  which  we  should  characterise  by  the  expression 
"art  for  art's  sake."  His  large  "Holy  Family" 
with  St.  Anne  and  St.  Joachim,  the  large  "  Holy 


122    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Family  "  with  St.  Anne  only,  "  The  Descent  from 
the  Cross  "  and  "  Lamentation,"  "  The  Ascension 
of  the  Saviour,"  "  The  Fall  of  Adam  and  Eve," 
"  The  Parcae,"  the  Diireresque  "  Madonna  Read- 
ing, with  Angels,"  "  The  Witches,"  and  the  "  St. 
Christopher,"  belong  to  the  most  valuable  speci- 
mens of  the  Black  and  White  Art  which  the 
German  Renaissance  has  produced. 

"  Matthasus  of  Griinewald,  otherwise  called 
Matthaeus  of  Aschaffenburg,  need  yield  to  none 
of  the  best  among  the  old  German  masters  in  the 
arts  of  Designing  and  Painting ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  is  in  truth  to  be  rated,  if  not  superior  to  the 
most  perfect  and  best,  at  least  fully  their  equal. 
It  is  lamentable  that  this  uncommon  man  could 
have  fallen  into  such  utter  neglect  that  I  do  not 
know  of  a  single  man  alive  who  could  give  even 
the  slightest  written  or  oral  account  of  him.  In 
order  that  an  appreciation  of  him,  however,  may 
see  the  light  of  day,  I  intend  to  adduce  with 
particular  care,  whatever  has  come  to  my  know- 
ledge, lacking  which,  this  fine  remembrance  would 
vanish  altogether  within  a  few  years. 

"  More  than  fifty  years  have  already  elapsed 
since  the  death  of  a  very  old  but  skilful  painter 
at  Frankfort,  called  Philipp  UfFenbach,  who  was 
once  upon  a  time  an  apprentice  of  the  famous 


MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD  123 

German  painter,  Grimmer.  This  Grimmer  was  a 
pupil  of  the  said  Matthaeus  of  the  Aschaffenburg, 
and  he  preserved  carefully  everything  of  his  that 
he  was  able  to  collect.  More  especially  did  he 
obtain  a  number  of  magnificent  drawings,  mostly 
black  crayons,  and  nearly  life  size,  after  the 
master's  death,  from  his  widow,  all  of  which  the 
said  Philipp  UfTenbach,  as  being  a  thoughtful'man, 
secured  subsequent  to  Grimmer's  death.  At  that 
time  I  used  to  go  to  school  near  his  lodgings, 
and  often  waylaid  him,  that  he  should  show  me, 
whenever  he  was  in  good  sorts,  this  book  of 
noble  drawings  by  Matthaeus  of  Aschaffenburg, 
whose  manner  he  (UfTenbach)  had  painstakingly 
studied,  and  whose  meritorious  qualities  and  ex- 
cellence he  had  discovered.  This  whole  volume 
was  sold  at  a  high  price,  after  the  said  Uffenbach's 
death,  by  his  widow  to  the  famous  amateur, 
Abraham  Schelken  of  Frankfort,  who  placed  it 
(along  with  many  other  splendid  works  of  art, 
the  finest  of  old  and  modern  paintings,  rare 
books  and  engravings,  which  it  would  take  far 
too  much  time  to  enumerate)  in  his  far-famed 
Fine-Art  Cabinet,  to  commemorate  everlastingly 
this  renowned  hand,  for  the  sweet  delight  of  all 
amateurs  :  to  which "  (cabinet)  "  I  wish  in  this 
wise  to  have  directed  the  fair  reader. 


i24    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

"  This  excellent  artist  lived  round  about  the 
time  of  Albert  Diirer,  and  the  year  1505  is 
the  date  inscribed  on  the  altar  of  the  '  Ascension 
of  the  Virgin,'  in  the  Dominican  Convent  at 
Frankfort,  done  by  Albrecht  Diirer,  the  four 
wings  of  which,  outside,  when  the  altar  is  closed, 
were  painted  by  this  Matthaeus  of  Aschaffen- 
burg,  with  grey  and  black  colours.  Upon  one 
of  them  is  depicted  ■  St.  Lawrence  with  the  Grid- 
iron,' upon  the  other  a  '  Saint  Elizabeth,'  upon 
the  third  a  '  St.  Stephen,'  and  upon  the  fourth 
another  picture  which  has  escaped  my  memory, 
all  neatly  posed,  as  can  be  seen  to  this  day  at 
Frankfort.  His  'Transfiguration  of  Christ  upon 
Mount  Tabor,'  above  all,  executed  in  water- 
colours,  is  most  commendable,  upon  which  we 
see  first  a  beautiful  cloud,  wherein  Moses  and 
Elijah  appear,  beside  the  apostles  who  are  kneel- 
ing upon  the  ground.  In  composition,  coloration, 
and  all  niceties,  this  picture  is  executed  so  care- 
fully, that  for  curiosity  nothing  may  surpass  it. 
Indeed,  it  is  as  to  manner  and  properties  incom- 
parable, and  a  mother  of  all  Graces." 

"Furthermore,  there  were  by  this  noble  hand, 
in  the  Cathedral  of  Mayence,  on  the  left-hand 
side  of  the  choir,  three  altar-pieces  in  as  many 
different  chapels.   Each  altar-piece  had  two  wings 


MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD  125 

painted  inside  and  out.  The  first  discovered  *  Our 
Lady  with  the  Christ-child  in  a  Cloud/  adored  by 
many  saints  on  the  earth,  St.  Catherine,  SS. 
Barbara,  Cecilia,  Elizabeth,  Apollonia,  and  Ursula, 
all  of  them  drawn  ably,  true  to  nature,  finely 
and  correctly,  and  coloured  in  the  same  fashion, 
that  they  seem  rather  to  be  of  the  heavens 
than  of  the  earth.  Upon  another  altar-piece 
one  saw  a  blind  hermit  about  to  cross  the  frozen 
Rhine  with  the  boy  who  leads  him,  who  has 
been  attacked  by  two  murderers  upon  the  ice. 
As  he  is  being  killed,  he  lies  over  his  boy,  who 
screams  for  help :  a  piece,  overflowing  as  it  were, 
with  proper  sentiment,  fine  execution,  and 
strangely  befitting,  true  conceits.  The  third 
piece  was  somewhat  less  perfect  than  the  other 
two,  and  they  were  all  removed  in  the  year  1631 
or  32,  during  the  raging  wars,  and  despatched 
to  Sweden  in  a  boat,  where  they  went  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  along  with  many  other  similar 
pieces,  in  consequence  of  a  shipwreck. 

"  There  is  said  to  be  yet  another  altar-piece  by 
this  hand  at  Eisenach,  upon  which  a  remarkable  'St. 
Anthony '  may  be  seen,  and  in  which  the  appa- 
ritions behind  the  windows  are  said  to  be  deftly 
executed.  Furthermore  His  Grace,  Duke  William 
of  Bavaria,  of  sacred  memory,  a  sage  judge  and 


126    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

amateur  of  the  Fine  Arts,  possessed  a  small 
*  Crucifix '  with  Our  Lady  and  St.  John,  and  a 
Magdalen  kneeling  in  earnest  prayer,  pains- 
takingly executed  by  this  hand,  without  knowing 
by  whom  the  picture  was.  This  same  piece  was 
very  remarkable,  on  account  of  the  Christ  upon 
the  Cross,  hanging  limply  down,  and  resting 
heavily  upon  his  feet,  as  true  to  nature  as  the  real 
life  itself.  And  verily  this  *  Crucifix '  appeared 
natural  and  true  above  all  others,  upon  patient 
and  intelligent  perusal ;  therefore  it  was  engraved 
in  half-folio  size,  in  the  year  1605,  by  Raphael 
Sadeler  on  copper,  at  the  express  desire  of  the  said 
Duke.  His  Grace,  the  late  Duke  Maximilian, 
of  most  sacred  memory,  was  exceedingly  pleased, 
when  I  revealed  to  him  the  authorship  of  the 
picture." 

"  Again  there  is  a  woodcut  (set)  of  the 
'  Revelation  of  St.  John,'  difficult  to  obtain, 
which  is  said  to  be  by  this  hand ;  and  there 
was  in  my  time  at  Rome  a  life-size  *  St.  John/ 
with  clasped  hands,  standing  and  looking  up  as 
if  at  the  figure  of  Christ  upon  the  Cross,  full 
of  piety  and  emotion,  and  stately  grace,  which 
was  esteemed  so  high  as  to  be  considered  a  work 
by  Albert  Diirer.  As  I,  however,  recognised  by 
whom  it  was  and  made  plain  the  difference  of 


MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD  127 

manner,  I  immediately  thereafter  was  called  upon 
to  sign  the  picture  with  oil  colours  (the  same 
with  which  I  was  at  that  time  painting  the 
effigy  of  the  Pope),  thus  :  *  Matthaeus  Griinewald 
Alemann  fecit?  And  this,  then,  is  all  of  what 
has  come  to  my  knowledge  of  the  art-work  of 
this  excellent  German,  beyond,  that  he  lived 
most  of  his  time  at  Mayence,  and  spent  a 
retired,  melancholy  life,  and  was  unhappily 
married.  Where  and  when  he  died,  I  do  not 
know,  but  rather  believe  that  it  must  have 
been  round  about  the  year  15 10." 

Griinewald  is  one  of  the  few  artists  of  whom 
Sandrart  speaks  more  than  once.  Reverting  to 
him,  in  a  later  chapter  he  recapitulates  what  he 
said  before,  and  mentions  again  the  Schelkens 
and  Spiring  (Hague)  collection.  "  I,  for  my  part, 
gave  as  explicit  an  account  of  him  as  I  was  able 
to,  and  furnished  in  the  former  chapter  a  like- 
ness of  him,  which  Albert  Durer  drew,  at  the 
time  they  set  up  Mr.  Jacob  Heller's  altar- 
piece  in  the  Dominican  Church  at  Frankfort. 
But  as  that  is  a  portrait  done  when  he  was 
young,  and  since  Mr.  Philipp  Jacob  Stromer, 
the  honourable  councillor  in  this  city,  showed 
me  in  his  famous  art  cabinet,  an  older  and  still 
finer  one  of  this  master,  therefore  I  have  also 


128    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

reproduced  that  (portrait)  for  the  greater  honour 
of  this  exalted  German  Correggio." 

A  hundred  years  before  Sandrart  published 
his  account,  Bernard  Jobin,  in  his  Accurate  Effigies 
(1573),  speaks  of  "  Martin  of  Oschenburg  (Asch- 
affenburg),  whose  precious  painting  is  to  be  seen 
at  Isna."  And  in  1620  Vincenz  Steinmeyer,  in 
his  Kunstbuchkin,  mentions:  "The  most  famous 
Albert  Diirer,  in  whose  lifetime  lived  the 
admirable  artist  and  painter,  Matth.  of  Asch- 
afFenburg,  whose  skilful  painting  may  be  seen 
to  this  day  at  Lesheim  near  Colmar,  likewise  at 
Mayence  in  the  Cathedral,  at  Aschaffenburg, 
and  at  other  places." 

Martin  Griinewald  was  born  about  1465, 
probably  at  Aschaffenburg,  as  far  as  can  be 
ascertained,  the  son  of  one  Hans  Griinewald, 
a  baker.  He  was  still  alive  in  1529,  which 
date  is  to  be  found  upon  a  self-portrait. 

The  Isna,  Lesheim,  Eysznen,  and  Eisenach 
of  the  old  authors  is  Isenheim,  near  Colmar,  at 
which  place  the  Antoniter  Church  once  housed 
Griinewald's  chef  d'ceuvre,  now  in  the  Museum 
of  Colmar.  The  centre-piece  of  this  polyptich 
contained  three  wood-carved  statues.  It  was 
flanked  by  two  stationary  painted  wings,  each 
containing  a  life-size  figure,  "St.  Anthony  in 


MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD  129 

the  garb  of  a  Bishop"  on  the  left-hand  side, 
"  St.  Sebastian,"  the  martyr,  on  the  right.  Two 
sets  of  shutters  closed  the  centre-piece.  On 
the  outside  of  the  outer  set  was  painted  a 
"  Crucifixion  "  ;  on  the  inside,  the  "  Annunciation  " 
on  the  left  -  hand  side,  the  "  Resurrection  of 
Christ "  on  the  right.  On  the  outside  of  the 
inner  set  was  painted  a  "  Virgin  with  the  Christ- 
child  "  in  a  landscape  ;  on  the  inside,  ''St.  Anthony 
and  St.  Paul "  on  the  left-hand  side,  and  a  weird 
"  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony "  on  the  right. 
There  was  also  a  predella,  a  u  Pieta."  The  paint- 
ings are  all  by  Griinewald,  the  carved  statues, 
&c,  by  other  hands.  The  altar  was  executed 
between  the  years  1493  and  15 16. 

Of  the  Mayence  altar-pieces  no  traces  remain, 
nor  of  the  "  St.  John  "  which  Sandrart  discovered 
at  Rome,  nor  of  the  "  Crucifixion  "  which  Sadeler 
engraved.  Only  a  few  of  the  drawings  out  of  the 
"  great  number "  which  Schelken  possessed  seem 
to  have  come  down  to  us,  among  them  a  "  Praying 
Saint "  (possibly  a  "  St.  Joseph "),  now  in  the 
Albertina  Collection  at  Vienna.  The  woodcut 
"  Apocalypse,"  which  Sandrart,  misled  by  the 
monogram,  ascribes  to  Griinewald,  is  by  M. 
Gerung. 

The  principal  works  by  Griinewald  which  we 


130    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

still  have,  besides  the  Isenheim  altar-piece,  are — 
at  Aschaffenburg,  a  predella,  a  "Pieta";  at 
Basle,  an  early  "  Christ  upon  the  Cross " ;  at 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  a  "St.  Cyriakus "  and  a 
"  St.  Lawrence  "  (two  of  the  Heller  altar  wings)  ; 
at  Karlsruhe,  a  "  Christ  upon  the  Cross " ;  at 
Munich,  a  large  painting  with  life-size  figures 
of  St.  Erasmus  and  St.  Mauritius,  once  the 
centre-piece  of  an  altar  painted  for  the  Church 
of  St.  Morris  at  Halle,  and  transported  to  Asch- 
affenburg in  the  year  1 540 ;  at  Stuppach,  in 
Wiirtemburg,  a  "  Madonna  with  the  Rainbow." 

There  is  no  Renaissance  architecture  or  orna- 
ment in  Griinewald's  work,  a  sure  sign  that  he 
never  passed  into  Italy.  Born  before  Durer 
even,  he  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  indeed  the 
most  extraordinary  of  German  sixteenth-century 
artists.  Sandrart's  appellation,  "  this  German 
Correggio,"  is  sagaciously  appreciative;  Griine- 
wald  is  the  only  true  colourist  of  the  German 
Renaissance,  the  only  true  "  stimmungsmaler," 
painter  of  the  "  passions."  There  is  a  certain 
reckless  ferocity  pervading  his  drawing ;  he  does 
not  avoid  ugly,  even  deformed  types.  The 
brilliant  coloration  transfigures  it  all,  and  he  is 
the  first  great  naturalist  of  an  intensity  of  feel- 
ing which  scarcely  any  one  has  attained  to  since 


MATTHIAS  GRUNEWALD  131 

his  time,  and  which  certainly  nobody  ever  has 
surpassed. 

The  "  Christ  upon  the  Cross,"  now  in  the 
Karlsruhe  Gallery,  is  a  thing  to  repulse  one  at 
first ;  but  slowly  it  exercises  a  growing  fascina- 
tion upon  us,  and  in  the  end  we  are  filled  with 
admiration  of  the  forceful,  weird  conception. 
"  This  is  the  Christ  of  St.  Justinus,  St.  Cyrillus, 
Tertullian,  the  Jesus,  as  early  Christianity  knew 
Him,  the  unsightly  Christ,  whose  bitter  suffer- 
ings told  upon  Him  as  He  took  the  heavy  load 
of  the  World's  sin  upon  Himself." 

"The  God  of  the  Poor,  He  who  kept  com- 
pany with  the  wretched,  with  the  outcasts,  with 
all  of  them  whose  misery  and  repulsiveness  the 
world  despises.  The  most  human  God,  a  Christ 
deserted  by  nature,  of  frailest  flesh,  to  whom  help 
from  above  did  not  come  before  He  had  drained 
the  last  dregs.  The  Christ  with  a  mother  for 
whom  He  cries  out  with  the  frightened  voice  of 
a  child,  just  as  every  one  when  in  greatest  danger 
calls  out  for  his  mother.  With  the  mother,  who 
stands  near  by,  powerless  like  every  mother." 

"  In  quest  of  lowest  degradation,  He  had 
discarded  Godhead  from  the  moment  when 
the  first  insults,  the  first  whips  of  the  scourge, 
struck  Him. 


132    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

"  Only  thus  was  He  able  to  suffer — suffer  like 
a  human,  like  a  felon,  like  a  cur,  low,  soiled, 
down  to  the  horror  of  decomposition. " 

"  Since  Griinewald,  Naturalism  has  never  dared 
to  approach  this  theme.  No  painter  ever  again 
dared  to  point  with  such  brutal  audacity  at  the 
Holy  wounds." 


CHAPTER  V 


ALBRECHT  ALTDORFER  AND  THE  NUREMBERG 
"  LITTLE  MASTERS  " 

Albrecht  Altdorfer — "little"  Albrecht,  as 
he  was  often  called,  to  distinguish  him  from 
Albrecht  Diirer,  the  form  of  whose  monogram 
he  imitated — is  one  of  the  most  captivating  artists 
of  the  German  Renaissance.  Sandrart's  account 
of  him  is  both  spare  and  inaccurate.  "  Albrecht 
Altdorfer  had  his  name  from  his  natal  city 
Altdorf,  in  Switzerland,  where  many  of  his 
pictures  are  to  be  seen,  which  closely  resemble 
his  engravings.  He  was  strongest  in  small 
biblical  pictures,  which  he  thought  out  carefully, 
and  he  was  full  of  application.  In  whatever  he 
accomplished  a  spirited  power  of  invention,  and 
an  element  of  unusual  strikingness,  can  be  de- 
tected, for  all  of  which  he  deserves  especial 
praise.  For  although  his  works  appear  a  trifle 
confused,  since  the  background,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  time,  stands  out  as  defined  as  the 

foreground,   still  they   are   replete  with  deep 

133 


134    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

understanding,  above  all  his  large  4  St.  Jerome,'  his 
'Crucifixion,'  and  others.  His  large  4  Ensign/ 
likewise,  is  a  very  decorative  woodcut,  as  are, 
moreover,  his  4  Pyramus  and  Thisbe,'  4  Abigail,' 
and  the  4  Passion,'  in  which  a  fine  display  of  the 
passions  is  unfolded.  He  issued  between  fifty 
and  sixty  engravings  upon  copper,  and  rather 
more  woodcuts  than  this,  all  of  which  are  to  be 
held  in  high  esteem,  and  are  kept  in  the  port- 
folios among  the  little  prints  or  masters ;  from 
which  his  industry,  perseverance,  and  clever- 
headedness  appear  full  well." 

Very  little  of  this — not  even  the  critical  part — 
holds  good.  We  know  now  that  Albrecht  was 
born  probably  in  Ratisbon,  shortly  before  1480, 
and  most  likely  descended  of  an  old  Ratisbon 
family.  His  father  appears  to  have  been  an 
artist,  who  migrated  in  1499  to  Amberg,  as  it 
seems.  When  our  Altdorfer  becomes  a  citizen 
of  Ratisbon  in  1505,  he  is  described  as  a  44  painter 
from  Amberg."  Four  years  later  the  city  magis- 
trates pay  in  part  for  a  painting  which  he  did  for 
the  choir  in  St.  Peter's  ;  in  1 5 1 3  he  bought  a  house 
in  Ratisbon  ;  in  1 5 1 9  he  became  a  member  of  the 
44  outer"  Council.  He  took  a  hand  in  driving 
the  Jews  from  Ratisbon.  From  1526  until  his 
death  he  was  a  member  of  the  44  inner"  or,  as  we 


(Munich) 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  135 

should  put  it,  "  superior "  Council.  His  wife, 
Anna,  had  died  in  1532  ;  he  himself  passed  away 
between  the  middle  of  February  and  the  beginning 
of  March  of  the  year  1538.  His  life  had  been 
one  of  growing  prosperity,  and,  as  he  left  no 
children,  his  considerable  property  fell  to  the  lot 
of  his  brother  Erhard,  who  was  a  court-painter 
in  Schwerin,  and  two  married  sisters  at  Nurem- 
berg and  Pfreimdt.  He  had  not  only  painted, 
engraved,  and  designed  upon  the  block  in  Ratis- 
bon,  but  had  also  worked  as  an  architect  for  the 
Municipal  Government  there. 

Altdorfer  has,  with  a  great  degree  of  justice, 
been  called  the  originator  of  landscape  painting. 
Not  only  does  landscape  predominate  in  such 
pictures  as  the  "  Susanna  and  the  Two  Elders," 
now  at  Munich,  to  a  degree  quite  unknown  in 
the  art  of  Germany  up  to  his  day,  but  in  the 
small  landscape  in  the  same  gallery  Altdorfer 
has  given  us  presumably  the  earliest  pure  land- 
scape known  to  German  Renaissance  Art.  The 
picture  shows  no  figure-work  whatever.  The 
Gallery  at  Vienna  used  to  own  another  pure 
landscape,  and  the  Museum  at  Berlin  possesses 
a  third,  in  which  some  allegorical  figures  play 
quite  a  minor  part.  A  series  of  small  panels, 
with  subjects  from  the  life  of  St.  Quirin  (now 


136    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

scattered,  and  to  be  found  in  Nuremberg  and 
Siena),  a  large  polyptich  altar  in  the  Austrian 
Monastery  of  St.  Florian,  a  4 'St.  George"  and 
the  "  Battle  of  Arbela "  in  Munich,  "  Christ 
upon  the  Cross "  and  a  "  Holy  Family  at  the 
Well "  in  Berlin,  and  the  "  Conversion  of  St. 
Hubert"  in  Glasgow,  are  the  most  important 
among  the  paintings  by  Altdorfer  which  have 
been  handed  down  to  us. 

As  an  engraver  Altdorfer  ranks  with  the 
so-called  "  Little  Masters,"  the  principal  Nurem- 
berg group  of  which  will  form  the  subject  of 
the  latter  part  of  this  chapter,  and  he  is  the  most 
winning  of  them  all.  His  mind  does  not  soar 
as  high  as  did  Diirer's,  as  a  draughtsman  he 
is  not  above  reproach,  nor  does  he  patiently 
elaborate  the  careful  technique  of  men  like  the 
Behams.  But  he  has  strong  personal  convictions, 
and  he  does  not  adapt  them  to  the  style  of  the 
Italians  or  of  any  one  else.  He  has  more  feeling, 
and  takes  a  deeper  interest  in  man  and  woman 
than  any  other  artist  of  his  day  and  country, 
barring  Diirer  alone.  The  younger  generation 
of  artists,  to  which  he  half  belongs,  delighted  in 
art  for  art's  sake,  and  when  they  are  at  liberty 
to  work  as  they  like,  their  produce  is  primarily 
a  cult  of  beauty.    Altdorfer  employs  art  as  a 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  137 

means  to  lay  open  the  character,  the  inner  life 
and  souls  of  the  men  and  women  around  him. 
Beham's  or  Aldegrever's  Cleopatras  or  Lucreces 
pose  as  beautiful  women,  and  they  pose  as  silent 
statues ;  but  every  figure  that  Altdorfer  ever 
engraved  seems  to  be  telling  us  something,  and 
there  is  a  vein  of  intimacy  about  it  as  if  the 
communication  were  a  thing  between  you  and 
me  alone.  Not  one  of  them  all  is  satisfied  with 
merely  impersonating  some  given  hero  or  heroine  ; 
they  all  seem  to  be  doing  or  thinking  something 
which  only  they,  and  no  creations  of  any  one 
else  before  or  beside  them,  have  thought  or  done. 
In  short,  whereas  the  rest  seem  to  have  seen  what 
they  drew  with  their  mind's  eye,  Altdorfer  seems 
to  have  fallen  back  upon  his  bodily  eye  alone, 
and  in  each  case  taken  a  momentary  view  of 
people,  which  he  then  fixes  upon  the  copper 
without  generalising  it.  He  did  not  undertake 
to  draw  a  Madonna  ;  but  he  drew  a  mother  and 
child  as  he  saw  them.  If  the  design  warranted 
the  label,  it  was  afterwards  called  a  Madonna. 
He  is  the  predecessor  of  the  naturalistic  and  the 
genre  painter. 

Early  in  life,  he  worked  as  an  engraver,  and 
after  a  pause  of  a  decade  or  so,  again  during  the 
last  eight  years  before  his  death.    His  devotional 


138    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

plates  are  very  beautiful.  He  was  one  of  the 
earliest  men  to  take  up  etching  for  decorative 
work.  His  etched  landscapes  are  not  only  rare, 
but  extremely  remarkable.  They  discover  him, 
influenced  by  pretty  much  the  same  principles  as 
Whistler ;  the  similarity,  after  one  has  deducted 
the  differences  which  are  a  natural  consequence  of 
the  intervening  space  of  about  350  years,  is  really 
astonishing.  Altdorfer  was  also  an  able  designer 
of  woodcuts. 

"In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  fine  artist,  Barthel 
Beham,  was  born  a  German,  many  among  us  as 
well  as  among  foreigners  have  taken  him  for  a 
foreigner,  since  he  never  attached  his  name  or 
his  mark  to  one  of  his  engravings  on  copper  (of 
which  he  published  many),  but  only  signed  some 
of  them  between  the  years  1520  and  1528.  In 
order  that  this  Beham's  (i.e.  Bohemian's)  praise- 
worthy name  may  not  quite  disappear,  since 
scarcely  anybody  can  tell  anything  about  him 
nowadays,  I  will  publish  his  undying  fame  here, 
which  I  have  heard  the  octogenarian  painter, 
Donauer,  in  Munich,  tell  about,  who  heard  forty 
years  ago,  that  this  Beham  was  reckoned  among 
the  very  foremost  painters  in  his  time.  And  this 
was  confirmed  to  me  by  the  famous  and  ingenious 


GEORGE  THE 

(Munich) 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  139 

wax-embosser,  Alexander  Abondio,  who  gave 
me  a  circumstantial  account  of  his  work.  In 
course  of  time  I  have  bought  there  numbers  of 
his  beautiful  drawings,  which  I  prize  highly  in 
his  honour. 

44  The  most  worshipful  Elector  of  Bavaria 
possesses  in  his  gallery  various  portraits  by  this 
hand,  which  yield  to  none  in  art  and  daintiness. 
They  are  4  Charles  V.,'  4  Ferdinand  I.,'  4  Elector 
Otto  Henry,'  4  Duke  William,'  and  more  of  the 
same  sort  are  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of  His 
Excellency  Prince  Neuburg,  all  of  which  portraits 
are  well  drawn,  well  and  neatly  painted,  true 
to  nature  in  coloration,  and  well  conceived  in  all 
parts. 

44  As  to  his  engravings  on  copper — for  the  most 
part  unknown,  as  stated  above — and  especially 
uncommon  as  to  their  subject,  they  are  a  4  Charles 
V.'  and  a  4  Ferdinand  I.,'  of  one  and  the  same  size, 
4  Duke  William  of  Bavaria,'  4  Leonard  von  Eck,'  a 
certain  4  Baldermann,'  and  others.  He  (Barthel  B.) 
worked  for  a  long  time  with  Marc  Antonio 
(Raimondi)  in  Rome  and  in  Bologna,  where  many 
of  his  works  were  issued  under  the  name  of  this 
Antonio.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
Antonio  engraved  after  the  designs  of  Raphael 
d'Urbino  whereas   our   Beham  drew  upon  his 


i4o   STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

own  knowledge,  and  sufficiently  proved  thereby 
his  high-soaring  understanding.  Among  such 
(engravings)  there  are,  the  '  Dying  Child '  lying  on 
the  ground  near  a  skull  with  the  inscription,  *  Mors 
omnia  aequat/  and  another  quite  similar  one  with 
three  skulls,  and  a  '  Virgin  Mary '  seated  within  a 
window  with  the  Christ-child,  and  many  other 
smaller  ones,  and  a  'Soldier  on  Horseback,'  a 
dainty,  naked  '  Cleopatra,'  many  peasants,  dances  of 
children,  ornamental  foliage,  and  several  elon- 
gated pieces  of  warriors,  with  very  active  figures, 
which  show  how  admirably  this  Barthel  under- 
stood such  naked  figures  and  the  designing  of 
them.  Among  them  there  is  a '  Raptus  Helenae,' 
a  1  Titus  Gracchus,'  and  others,  some  of  which,  for 
instance,  '  Adam  and  Eve  with  Death  before  the 
Tree  of  Life,'  a  '  Virgin,'  '  The  Untimely  Birth,' 
'Judicium  Paridis,'  and  several  unseemly  bath- 
houses, were  adroitly  copied  by  his  cousin  and 
brother's  son,  Hans  Sebald  Beham,  passing  under 
this  latter's  name.  Thus,  indeed,  Germany  has 
been  illumined  by  this  commendable  Barthel 
Beham,  and  it  profited  by  him  as  regards  its 
Art.  He  died  in  Italy,  whither  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria  had  sent  him." 

"Barthel  Beham  of  Nuremberg  was  one  of 
the  earliest  masters  in  Germany  to  comprehend 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  141 

the  Antique,  to  practise  intelligently  the  art  of 
engraving,  and  to  carry  it  from  Germany  to  Italy. 
After  the  famous  Italian,  Marc  Antonio,  had 
engraved  RafFaello  Santi's  designs  upon  copper, 
his  mark  is  generally  to  be  found  upon  the 
best  of  Raffaello's  compositions,  thus  M.A.F., 
which  signifies  Marcus  Ant.  Fecit.  The  popu- 
larity and  common  practice  of  the  art  of  en- 
graving upon  copper  in  Italy  traces  back  to  this 
Barthel  Beham.  For  the  earliest  and  best  works 
which  were  issued  under  Marc  Antonio's  name 
were  most  of  them  executed  with  the  help  of 
Barthel.  In  consequence  thereof,  the  masterly 
draughtsman  Beham,  compassed  Raffaello's  art  of 
drawing  so  well  and  imitated  it,  so  that  he  im- 
ported to  Germany  a  much  finer  science  of  the 
art  of  drawing,  gleaned  from  RafFaello  and  the 
Antiques.  This  Jacob  Bink  and  George  Pencz, 
two  well-known  masters  of  Nuremberg,  prove  in 
a  measure,  and  a  view  of  their  work  shows  that 
they  followed  his  manner.  Barthel  entered  the 
service  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  where  he  made 
many  portraits,  which'couldn't  be  improved  upon  ; 
and  much  of  his  work  is  to  be  seen  in  his  and  in 
the  Prince  of  Neuburg's  Cabinets,  as  I  have 
already  said. 


1 42    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


<c  Hans  Sebald  Beham  was  not  only  a  pupil 
of  his  cousin  Barthel,  but,  above  that,  copied  him 
painstakingly;  he  engraved  neatly  upon  copper, 
and  followed  the  manner  of  his  cousin  very 
well.  He  finished  much  rare,  small  work  at 
Nuremberg,  for  example,  dances  of  peasants  as 
they  were  common  thereabouts,  and  peasants' 
huts  of  that  neighbourhood ;  and  he  also  issued  a 
number  of  woodcuts.  Because  he  lived  rather 
loosely,  and  pictured  a  number  of  improper 
things,  he  went  from  Nuremberg  to  Frankfort 
and  settled  there  at  the  St.  Leonard's  Gate, 
where  he  painted  a  good  deal,  engraved  upon 
copper,  and  more  particularly  drew  fine  designs 
upon  the  block.  In  fine,  he  set  up  a  wine  tavern, 
which,  however,  owing  to  his  manner  of  life, 
received  a  bad  name,  and  he  brought  this  bad 
reputation  with  him  to  the  grave,  about  the  year 
1 545-" 

Sandrart's  account  of  the  Behams  calls  for 
correction  in  some  details.  Barthel  was  born  in 
1502,  and  was  banished  from  Nuremberg  in 
1525.  He  never  returned  to  Nuremberg,  but 
was  retained  by  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria,  for  whom 
he  painted  at  Munich  and  Land  shut,  portraits 
principally.  Most  of  these  are  to-day  at 
Augsburg,  Berlin,  Donaueschingen,  Schleissheim, 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  143 

Nuremberg,  and  Munich,  the  last-named  Gallery 
possessing  also  his  most  important  biblical  work, 
"  The  Finding  of  the  Cross."  He  was  of  an  in- 
dependent spirit  (as  will  appear  in  connection 
with  the  story  of  his  banishment),  and  a  leader. 
Sebald  (the  name  Hans  is  conjectural)  did  actually 
follow  and  copy  him,  and  this  may  have  led 
Sandrart  to  believe  him  a  younger  cousin.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Sebald  was  Barthel's  older  brother, 
born  1500.  He  was  banished  from  Nuremberg 
at  the  same  time  as  Barthel,  but  was  allowed  to 
return  very  soon.  He  soon  got  into  trouble 
again,  being  accused,  in  1528,  of  surreptitious 
publication  of  Durer's  theoretical  work — of  a 
sort  of  plagiarism,  in  fact.  Sebald  then  spent  some 
time  at  Ingolstadt  and  Munich,  but  returned  to 
Nuremberg  in  1529.  Soon  after,  he  migrated 
to  Frankfort  and  settled  there  definitely  in  1535, 
in  which  year  he  relinquished  his  rights  of  citizen- 
ship at  Nuremberg.  Hard  times  followed,  and 
he  set  up  his  wine-tavern,  no  doubt  because  his 
labours  as  an  artist  failed  to  support  him.  The 
accusation  of  having  lived  a  loose  life  are  to  be 
taken  cum  grano  salts.  They  refer  in  part  to  his 
having  turned  heretic,  and  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  antique  ideal  in  his  art.  The  several  im- 
proper prints  which  he  did  actually  engrave  seem 


i44    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

to  have  been  intended  as  moral  warnings,  to 
judge  by  the  texts  with  which  he  accompanied 
them.  His  inclination  towards  Mythology  and 
Heathenism,  was  not  altogether  a  matter  of 
free  will.  The  trend  of  the  times  lay  towards 
banishing  pictorial  art  from  the  churches  and 
reducing  the  output  of  devotional  prints,  which 
some  declared  to  be  little  less  than  idols.  There- 
fore Beham  and  his  friends  had  to  look  out  for 
other  subjects,  since  these  were  more  or  less  out 
of  vogue.  The  exact  date  of  Sebald's  death  was 
the  22nd  of  November  1550. 

"  George  Pencz's  natal  town  was  the  noble 
imperial  and  commercial  city  of  Nuremberg, 
where,  along  with  life  he  compassed  virtue  and 
art.  After  his  good  understanding  had  furthered 
him  to  that  point  that  he  considered  the  emi- 
nent draughtsmanship  evinced  by  the  work  of 
Raffaello  d'Urbino  as  of  the  finest  order,  he 
travelled  to  Rome,  and  imitated  this  manner  as 
well  as  he  could,  and  in  consequence  attained  to 
such  excellency  in  historical  and  other  pictures, 
that  he  surpassed  every  one  in  the  Germany  of 
his  day  in  this  manner ;  wherefore,  too,  the 
Bolognese  engraver,  Marc  Antonio,  passed  many 
things  after  drawings  of  Raffaello  (by  Pencz)  as 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  145 

his  own.  However,  as  he  himself  presently 
became  rich  in  invention,  in  painting,  as  well 
as  in  designing,  he  published  masterly  engrav- 
ings on  copper  under  his  own  name,  whereof 
the  painted  originals  are  to  be  seen  in  numbers, 
partly  at  the  Town  Hall  in  Nuremberg  and 
partly  in  the  Electoral  Palace  at  Landshut. 

"  Mention  must  be  made  with  considerable 
praise  of  the  fact  that  our  artist  painted  in 
oils  in  this  same  city  of  Nuremberg  the  upper 
part  of  a  room,  at  the  end  of  a  gallery,  in  the 
honourable  Mr.  Volkamer's  pleasure-garden.  He 
pictured  it  as  if  the  room  were  still  open  and 
unfinished,  the  carpenters  still  busy  at  work 
putting  in  the  joists,  girders,  and  planks. 
Others  are  erecting  the  roof-timber,  all  against 
an  open  sky,  with  clouds  and  birds  flying 
about,  all  done  so  true  to  nature  that  many 
have  been  deceived,  and  mistaken  the  image  for 
fact,  which  error  is  fallen  into  particularly  oy 
such  as  take  the  same  point  of  view  which  our 
George  Pencz  had  chosen. 

"  He  engraved  very  many  excellent  works 
upon  copper,  which  should  be  carefully  collected 
and  preserved  by  amateurs  for  the  improvement 
and  education  of  the  young,  for  many  of  whom 
they  form  a  most  desirable  object  for  study. 

K 


146    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

His  best  works  he  issued  in  the  years  1530, 
1540,  and  1550.  They  are  taken  from  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  and  the  Gospels ; 
further,  there  are  histories — the  4  Seven  Acts 
of  Charity,'  the  4  Story  of  Joseph  in  Egypt,' 
4  Tobit,'  the  4  Good  Samaritan,'  the  *  Story  of 
Dives';  again,  taken  from  secular  history — 
4  Tomiris,'  4  Lucrece,'  4  Medea,'  4  Titus  Manlius,' 
4  Marcus  Curtius.'  He  was  so  famous  as  a 
draughtsman  that  the  well-known  master,  Alde- 
grever,  copied  his  4  Four  Evangelists '  most 
painstakingly.  And  since  it  would  take  too 
long  to  enumerate  all  his  feats,  I  will  only 
refer  the  reader  more  especially  to  his  4  Siege 
and  Assault  of  Carthage  by  Night,'  and 
repeat  in  fine,  that  the  work  of  George  Pencz 
is  a  manual  for  all  arts,  by  which  they 
may  gain  for  him,  as  he  did  for  them,  a 
never-fading  laurel-wreath  of  art,  virtue,  and 
honours." 

Pencz  was  born  about  1500,  and  it  has  been 
conjectured  with  much  plausibility  that  he  was 
Diirer's  pupil  and  apprentice,  the  44  George  "  who 
married  Diirer's  maid  in  1524.  In  the  following 
year  he  was  banished  with  the  Behams,  but 
allowed  to  return  within  the  outskirts  of  the 
city  before  them.    In  1532  he  was  even  appointed 


p(  )K  I  RAIT  OF  HER2 

{  Karlsruhe) 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  147 

official  painter  to  the  City  Council.  He  is 
supposed  to  have  visited  Italy  in  1530,  and 
again  in  1539,  and  also  to  have  painted  at 
Landshut.  It  is  more  probable  that  he  was  a 
pupil  of  Giulio  de'  Gianuzzi  (Giulio  Romano), 
at  Mantua,  than  of  M.  A.  Raimondi  at  Rome 
and  Bologna.  Besides  the  mural  paintings 
already  mentioned,  there  are  easel  pictures  by 
him  in  the  Galleries  of  Basle  (a  "  Cimon  and 
Pero "  in  the  J.  Nestel  Collection),  Berlin, 
Breslau,  Brunswick,  Darmstadt  (most  of  these 
are  portraits),  Dresden  (fragments  of  an  "  Adora- 
tion of  the  Magi"),  Florence  (Uffizi),  Karls- 
ruhe, Nuremberg  (a  "  St.  Jerome  with  a  Skull "), 
Paris  (a  "  St.  Jerome  with  the  Lion,"  in  the 
Louvre),  Schleissheim  ("  Venus  and  Cupid," 
"Death  of  Lucrece "),  Stockholm  ("King 
Ferdinand  I.,"  and  another  "  Cimon  and  Pero  " 
in  the  University  Collections),  Stuttgart,  Vienna, 
Windsor  (a  copy  of  Holbein's  u  D.  Erasmus  "), 
and  a  few  other  places.  Finally,  Duke  Albrecht 
of  Prussia  summoned  him  to  Konigsberg,  where 
he  became  court  painter.  He  is  said  to  have 
died  soon  after,  in  the  year  1550. 

"  Lukas  Krug  was  also  one  of  the  foremost 
engravers  upon  copper  in  Germany,  which  art 


148    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

at  that  time  merited  praise  among  us  above 
the  Italians  and  French — though  there  were 
enough  of  these,  I  trow — and  we  possessed  a 
great  number  of  such  engravers  who  ornamented 
and  beautified  the  work  of  goldsmiths  by  means 
of  the  burin  and  of  etching.  Many  amateurs 
cherish  to  this  day  silver  plate  decorated  by 
Hans  Sebald  Beham  and  this  Krug.  He  lived 
about  the  year  15 16.  As  for  the  rest,  his  work 
is  not  frequently  met  with ;  the  most  important 
pieces  are  a  '  Crucifixion,'  a  '  Nativity '  (a  night 
piece),  an  '  Adoration  of  the  Magi,'  and  a  few 
similar  plates,  which  one  comes  across  here  and 
there  in  the  possession  of  amateurs." 

About  Krug  we  know  scarcely  more  than 
what  Sandrart  tells  us,  only  we  must  correct 
his  Christian  name,  as  Sandrart  gives  it,  into 
Ludwig.  And  Neudorffer  reports :  "  I  could 
not  imagine  what  knowledge  this  Ludwig  Krug 
lacked  in  the  way  of  silver  and  gold  work, 
drawing,  engraving,  cutting,  enamelling,  chasing, 
painting,  portraying."  "  Hanns  Koburger  bought 
up  his  work  piece  by  piece."  "  What  he  carved 
in  stone,  cameo,  and  iron,  was  esteemed  even  by 
the  Italians.  He  had  a  fine  head  for  philoso- 
phising." He  was  freed  of  the  guild  in  1522, 
and  died  in  1532. 


THE  a  LITTLE  MASTERS"  149 

The  fact  is,  the  lives  of  most  of  these  artists  are 
almost  a  blank  to  us,  and  what  we  know  about 
them  has  been  gleaned  from  their  work,  the 
dates  and  signatures  upon  this  work,  and  an 
occasional  brief  entry  in  some  municipal  register 
or  other  official  document.  It  is  with  delight, 
therefore,  that  we  hail  an  instance  where  we  get 
somewhat  more  satisfactory  information  about 
at  least  three  of  these  masters,  the  brothers 
Beham  and  their  colleague  Pencz.  What  we 
learn  affected  their  life  but  a  short  time,  and 
it  has  so  little  direct  bearing  upon  their  art, 
that  it  would  scarcely  be  worth  while  to  ex- 
patiate upon  the  subject,  were  it  not  for  the 
fact  that  the  tale  divulges  the  character  of  these 
men.  As  an  explanation  of  a  man's  art,  any 
sort  of  light  thrown  upon  his  real  character 
will  always  be  of  value. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  religious  views  upheld  by 
Carlstadt  and  Miinzer  had  spread  at  Nuremberg, 
in  spite  of  their  being  decreed  heretical  by  the 
authorities  in  power.  It  appears  that,  besides 
publishers  and  printers,  artists  were  the  princi- 
pal converts  of  the  dissenters.  In  October  and 
December  1524,  two  painters,  Greiffenberger  and 
Hans  Platner,  were  summoned  before  the  justices 


i  jo    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

to  give  an  account  of  themselves  as  to  their  re- 
ligious views.  They  seem  to  have  been  dropped  ; 
but  on  January  10,  1525,  an  entry  informs  us 
that  the  two  painters  Beham  were  cited  in  the 
same  manner.  Two  days  later  the  records  already 
enumerate  three  painters  ;  George  Pencz  had  been 
added  ;  and,  from  now  on,  the  three  are  always 
spoken  of  as  "  the  three  godless  painters  "  until 
the  affair  is  finally  settled.  They  are  cross- 
examined  again  on  the  14th  of  the  month, 
and  it  appeared  that  a  certain  Johann  Denk, 
schoolmaster  at  St.  Sebaldus,  was  mixed  up  with 
the  matter.  His  case  was  thereupon  investigated 
first,  the  painters  remaining  in  custody  until  it 
was  over.  One  of  their  cross-examinations  took 
place  in  the  torture-chamber,  but  no  violence  of 
any  kind  was  applied.  The  move  was  only  taken 
for  the  sake  of  sobering  down  the  "  malefactors," 
since  they  had  been  rather  refractory  all  along. 

We  possess  copies  of  the  various  affidavits,  but 
do  not  know  in  which  order  they  were  given. 
The  charges  against  the  painters  were  atheism, 
opposition  to  the  clergy  and  magistracy,  and 
association  with  bad  characters. 

Sebald  Beham  avowed  that  it  would  in  nowise 
transpire  that  he  had  misled  anybody  with  evil 
precepts.    However,  so  much  of  the  charge  was 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  151 

true,  namely,  that  he  had  discussed  the  points 
upon  which  he  was  doubtful  with  a  number  of 
comrades,  and  had  made  plain  the  nature  of  his 
doubts  to  them.  The  principal  one  of  these  was, 
that  he  could  not  believe  that  the  wine  and  bread 
really  turn  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
He  had  so  far  been  unable  to  convince  himself 
of  this  being  true,  and  must  patiently  wait  till 
it  please  God  to  enlighten  him.  All  the  sermons 
he  had  heard  had  done  him  no  good ;  nor  had 
Luther's  or  anybody  else's  sermons  led  him 
astray,  for  he  was  always,  and  had  always  been, 
of  this  opinion.  True,  he  had  taken  Holy  Com- 
munion at  the  Augustine  Church  recently ;  but 
it  mattered  not,  in  his  heart  he  did  not  believe 
in  it — so  much  so,  that  ever  since  he  had  been 
sorely  troubled  whether  he  had  not  been  very 
much  in  the  wrong  to  have  gone  to  Holy 
Communion  at  all ;  and  he  is  aware  of  the  fact 
that  this  really  casts  him  out  of  the  Church. 
He  is  doubtful  as  to  baptism,  and  will  neither 
commend  nor  condemn  it.  There  is  no  special 
virtue  in  water. 

He  does  not  admit  having  made  use  of 
improper  discourse,  and  feels  sure  that  nothing 
of  the  kind  can  be  proved  against  him.  The 
"  bad  characters  "  he  had  associated  with  were 


152    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  schoolmaster  of  St.  Sebaldus,  George  Pencz, 
and  the  son  of  Vitus  the  glazier. 

Finally  he  begs,  if  they  can  correct  his  views 
in  a  way  to  convince  him,  let  them  come  and  do 
it,  and  he  will  gladly  hear  and  accept  all  they  say. 

Barthel,  the  younger  brother,  goes  far  beyond 
all  this.  He  is  more  decided,  and  terser  in  what 
he  repudiates.  Besides,  he  discloses  Utopian  views 
which  have  a  modern  ring  in  them ;  for  he  chal- 
lenges the  then  accepted  codes  of  right  of  posses- 
sion and  right  of  retribution  as  inflicted  by  man. 

Barthel  says  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  believe 
that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  actually 
present  in  the  bread  and  wine  at  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, nor  does  he  put  any  faith  in  the  rite  of 
baptism ;  and  no  one  can  talk  him  out  of  this, 
may  he  listen  to  ever  so  many;  and  even  if  he 
should  say  that  he  believed  in  all  this  he  would 
be  lying  at  heart.  He  esteems  all  of  it  mere 
human  trifling ;  that  is  what  he  believes  at  the 
bottom  of  his  heart ;  and  no  more  can  he  believe 
in  Holy  Writ.  He  says  that  he  has  talked  over 
the  matter  with  many  people,  and  also  attended 
the  famous  Osiander's  sermons,  now  going  on  for 
two  years,  but  he  has  never  been  persuaded  into 
belief.  He  does  not  see  how  it  is  that  what  the 
preachers  say  seems  to  satisfy  the  people,  for  it 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  153 


really  amounts  to  no  more  than  mere  trifling. 
Consequently  he  does  not  see  any  good  in  their 
preaching.  This  is  the  opinion  which  he  intends 
to  abide  by.  He  is  induced  to  take  this  course 
on  account  of  all  the  lies  current,  and  will  wait 
till  the  truth  appear. 

Thereupon  he  was  told  that  it  had  come  to  the 
ears  of  the  Council  that  he  and  his  brothers  had 
proclaimed  that  every  one  ought  to  stop  work, 
and  that  there  should  be  an  equal  distribution  of 
property  among  all  men,  and  that  he  contemned 
public  authorities.  Barthel  replied  he  knew  of 
no  master  above  him  except  God  Almighty.  If 
brother  turns  against  brother  and  He  punish 
them,  every  one  is  in  duty  bound  to  obey  one 
another,  and  one  brother  then  must  punish  the 
other.  But  nowhere  is  it  written,  that  if  your 
brother  sins  and  has  confessed  his  wickedness  to 
you,  that  you  have  a  right  to  play  the  rector,  and 
that  the  penalty  to  be  inflicted  be  a  hand  for  a 
a  hand,  an  eye  for  an  eye,  &C.1 

1  The  scribe,  in  trying  to  note  down  the  ipsisshna  verba  of 
Beham,  has  evidently  muddled  his  sentences.  The  sense  of 
his  objection,  however,  is  clear,  and  he  means  to  say  that,  upon 
the  direct  command  of  God,  man  must  submit  to  his  brother 
and  suffer  punishment  at  his  brother's  hands ;  but  even  Holy 
Writ  does  not  authorise  any  one  to  take  the  matter  of  retri- 
bution in  his  own  hands,  and  then  to  inflict  so  serious  a 
punishment  as  a  hand  for  a  hand,  an  eye  for  an  eye,  &c. 


154    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Lying  in  prison  had  the  effect  of  weakening 
these  painters  somewhat,  and  they  declared  them- 
selves willing  to  accept  instruction  and  to  have 
their  misbelief  corrected.  But  after  this  was 
attempted,  they  were  heard  to  say  at  the  door : 
"  To  be  sure,  there  has  been  enough  talk ;  but 
very  little  has  been  proven ; "  and  again,  "  that 
they  had  given  the  preachers  some  nuts  to  crack 
that  would  keep  their  jaws  busy  for  two  years 
or  better."  Accordingly,  it  was  seen  that  they 
had  in  reality  lost  none  of  their  refractoriness. 

To  bring  the  affair  to  a  close,  probably,  six 
questions  were  put  to  them,  to  which  a  neat  and 
unevasive  answer  was  peremptory.  The  ques- 
tions were : 

1 .  Do  you  believe  in  God  ? 

2.  What  do  you  think  of  Jesus  Christ? 

3.  Do  you  believe  the  Holy  Gospel  and  the 
Word  of  God  as  laid  down  in  Holy  Writ  ? 

4.  What  do  you  think  of  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Altar  (Holy  Communion)  ? 

5.  What  do  you  think  of  Baptism  ? 

6.  Do  you  believe  in  secular  authority,  and  do 
you  admit  the  Nuremberg  Council  to  be  your 
lord,  as  far  as  life  and  property  and  outward 
questions  are  concerned  ? 

Pencz  replied  to — 1.  That  he  has  some  feeling 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  155 

on  the  point,  but  in  truth  he  does  not  really  know 
what  to  think  of  this  same  God  ;  2.  He  does  not 
believe  in  Christ ;  3.  He  does  not  believe  Holy 
Scripture  ;  4.  He  does  not  reckon  Holy  Com- 
munion for  anything  ;  5.  Nor  Baptism  for  any- 
thing ;  6.  He  knows  of  no  lord  above  him  but 
God  alone. 

Barthel  Beham's  answers  were — to  1.  Yes;  2. 
Thinks  nothing  of  Christ;  3.  Does  not  know 
whether  it  be  holy  ;  4.  Reckons  it  for  naught ;  5. 
Naught ;  6.  No.  Sebald  Beham  concurs  with  his 
brother.  A  certain  Sebald  Baumhawer,  who  has 
been  taken  up  in  the  company  of  these  three, 
gives  rather  modified  answers,  but  in  the  end 
they  amount  to  about  the  same  thing.  L.  Krug 
revoked  and  promised  to  behave. 

The  Council  now  referred  the  matter  to  a 
committee  of  five  preachers  and  three  doctors  of 
law.  The  three  painters  had  been  imprisoned 
for  fourteen  days. 

The  preachers  voted  for  banishing  the  painters, 
because  of  their  obstinacy,  the  bad  example 
they  were  setting,  and  the  dangers  likely  to 
result  therefrom.  They  further  deduced  some 
reasons  for  their  sentence  out  of  Scripture.  The 
lawyers  spoke  for  leniency.  They  said  prison 
seems  to  exercise  a  wholesome  influence  upon 


156    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  three  painters,  they  will  weaken  and  return 
to  orthodox  views.  They  have  been  punished 
sufficiently.  Let  them  be  dismissed  with  a  warn- 
ing and  then  be  watched.  If  they  do  not  mend, 
it  will  always  be  time  enough  for  the  Council  to 
resort  to  serious  measures.  But  the  theologians  set 
up  a  howl  at  this.  People,  they  claimed,  will  spread 
it  about  that  the  painters  have  been  coerced;  they 
will  gain  sympathy  and  get  a  following,  and  the 
Council  will  repent  its  leniency  soon  enough  and 
yet  too  late.  Therefore  let  these  men  be  banished 
from  the  community.  Finally  they  summed  up 
their  opinion  in  a  document  submitted  to  the 
Council,  wherein  six  reasons  were  given  for  pro- 
nouncing the  sentence  of  banishment,  to  wit : 

"  Firstly,  because  these  painters  showed  them- 
selves not  only  on  the  first  but  also  the  second 
and  third  day,  and  in  spite  of  all  warnings 
and  instructions,  atheistic  and  heathenish  to  a 
hitherto  unparalleled  degree ;  and  that,  too, 
coupled  with  contempt  for  the  preachers  and 
their  secular  authorities. 

"  Again,  their  action  and  condition  has  become 
public  and  has  caused  much  disturbance,  which  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  since  it  is  not  a  matter  of 
body  but  of  soul.  Now  many  people  in  this 
town  secretly  incline  towards  heresy,  and  if  these 


THE  "LITTLE  MASTERS"  157 

(the  painters)  be  dismissed  unpunished,  many 
folk  will  gather  around  them,  consult  them  as  to 
their  fate  and  their  views,  and  be  misled  in  the 
end  out  of  sheer  curiosity.  For  these  (painters) 
are  well  known,  and  it  is  not  to  be  hoped  of 
them  that  they  will  keep  quiet,  for  they  are 
mighty  uppish  and  renowned  before  others  on 
account  of  their  overbearing.  Therefore,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  what  pernicious  poison 
will  be  disseminated  by  them. 

"  Thirdly — It  is  to  be  grievously  feared  that 
dread  of  imprisonment  rather  than  the  Word 
of  God  weakened  these  men,  and  their  heart 
will  stand  after  liberation  just  where  it  stood 
before.  For  when  they  were  dismissed  (from 
cross-examination)  one  was  heard  to  say  secretly 
to  the  other :  1  They  talk  a  good  deal  to  us,  but 
let  them  prove  it.'  Thus,  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
the  last  things  (i.e.  which  they  will  do)  will  be 
worse  than  the  first. 

"  Fourthly — These  three  have  denied  owing 
duty  to  the  authorities  in  power ;  even  the 
schoolmaster  (see  above — Johann  Denk)  never 
went  to  such  an  extreme,  and  he  in  his  opinions 
was  by  far  not  so  atheistic  as  these  three.  Yet 
he  was  banished.  Then  why  should  these  enjoy 
any  privilege  ? 


158    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

"  Fifthly — To  the  majority  of  people  here,  these 
painters  and  their  affair  are  so  odious  that  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  they  may  be  killed  if  they  be 
dismissed.  Thus  worse  matters  would  come  of 
bad,  and  one  mischief  would  be  hunted  down 
by  another. 

"  Sixthly — It  is  to  be  feared  that  if  they  be 
allowed  to  remain,  numerous  other  people  will 
stray  from  the  right  path,  and  it  will  be 
necessary  to  correct  them  and  preach  to  them 
all  singly,  which  would  be  an  insufferable  burden, 
not  only  for  the  preachers  but  also  for  the  secular 
authorities." 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  theologians 
prevailed,  and  that  consequently  all  three  of  the 
painters  had  to  leave  Nuremberg  for  a  time. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  TWO  CRANACHS 

"Lukas  Cranach  the  elder,  born  in  Cranach 
within  the  princely  Episcopate  of  Bamberg,  arose 
in  the  time  of  Albrecht  Diirer,  and  was  summoned 
to  the  Electoral  Court  of  Saxony  on  account  of 
his  famed  skill  in  art ;  here,  too,  his  best  works 
have  remained  down  to  this  day.  He  was  par- 
ticularly neat  and  pleasing  in  Painting  as  well 
as  Draughtsmanship,  and  was  very  clever  in 
both,  as  is  shown  by  his  perfection  in  praise- 
worthy mythological  subjects,  nudes,  biblical 
pictures,  poetical  themes,  and  others.  Again,  he 
was  strong  in  portraits  and  in  life-size  half- 
figures,  for  example  '  Lucrece,'  old  men,  women, 
and  the  like,  which  he  clothed  alia  moderna,  and 
painted  deftly,  each  according  to  the  particular 
charms  of  its  sex.  Such  are  still  highly  esteemed 
at  the  Elector's  Court,  and  the  master  himself 
received  plentifully  the  highest  favours  of  this 
gracious  Court  during  his  life-time. 

"  Among  other  things  he  did  a  naked  *  Lucrece  ' 

159 


160    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

standing,  life-size,  one  of  his  foremost  works, 
and  now  in  the  gallery  of  the  Electoral  Palace 
at  Munich,  along  with  other  rare  things.  His 
panel  with  the  '  St.  Wilibald  and  St.  Walburg ' 
is  still  particularly  esteemed  by  his  Grace  the 
Venerable  Marquard,  Bishop  of  Eichstadt,  who 
was  ever  more  than  the  father  of  all  virtues 
and  learning.  Some  of  his  works,  further,  are 
to  be  seen  in  the  Imperial  Galleries  at  Vienna 
and  Prague  and  elsewhere.  In  my  collection  or 
art-cabinet  there  is  a  1  Lucrece '  with  a  poniard  in 
her  hand,  clothed  in  a  garment  of  fur  which  is 
very  cleverly  painted,  and  represented  as  being 
about  to  shorten  her  life  by  a  thrust  with  the 
dagger.  On  account  of  his  fine  understanding, 
he  was  loved  and  cherished  on  all  sides,  and 
finally  relinquished  life  at  Weimar,  anno  1553, 
on  the  1 6th  of  October,  in  the  eighty-first  year 
of  his  life. 

"  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  likewise  called 
Lukas,  who  seems  to  have  inherited  his  father's 
skill  along  with  his  name,  since  he  was  esteemed 
almost  as  much  as  his  father.  He  was  born 
at  Wittenberg,  in  Saxony,  where  he  was  made 
Burgomaster,  and  where  he  died  upon  the  14th 
of  January,  in  the  year  1586." 

The  elder  Cranach  was  born  in  the  year  1472, 


I  ill    REST  ON  THE  I  I  IGH  I 

(Berlin) 


THE  TWO  CRANACHS  161 


in  the  town  from  which  he  derives  his  name,  and 
which  to-day  is  spelt  Kronach.  His  family  name 
has  not  been  ascertained ;  his  father  seems  to 
have  been  a  painter,  but  nothing  of  his  work 
is  known.  Nor  do  we  know  much  about  Lukas 
the  elder  prior  to  his  thirty-second  year,  except 
that  he  seems  to  have  visited  Vienna  before  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  painted  a 
"  Crucifixion "  for  the  Scotch  Convent  there. 
The  earliest  date  on  any  of  his  authenticated 
pictures  is  1504.  He  was  already  married  to 
Barbara  Brengbier,  the  daughter  of  a  Burgomaster 
of  Gotha,  when  he  was  summoned  in  the  follow- 
ing year  by  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise  to  Saxony, 
and  occupied  with  work  at  Torgau  and  Lochau. 
Very  soon  after  he  settled  at  Wittenberg  as  Saxon 
court-painter. 

Early  in  the  year  1508  he  was  granted  arms, 
these  being  "  a  black  snake,  with  two  black  bat's 
wings,  a  red  coronet,  and  in  the  mouth  a  golden 
ring,  with  a  ruby  in  it."  This  he  had  already 
used  as  his  artist's  mark  for  some  time.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  same  year  his  patron  sent  him  to 
Emperor  Maximilian,  in  the  Lowlands,  in  order 
to  parade  with  the  skill  of  his  court-painter. 
There  Lukas  the  elder  painted  the  portrait  of 
Charles  V.,  then  eight  years  old. 

L 


1 62    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

In  1 5 19  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Municipal  Council  at  Wittenberg,  and  this  was 
repeated  in  1521,  1522,  1525,  and  1534.  In 
1520  he  bought  an  apothecary's  shop  near  the 
market-place,  and  with  it  the  privilege  of  selling 
sweet  wines.  He  also  had  a  printing  and  book 
shop,  and  his  studio  was  full  of  prentices  and 
scholars.  He  became  a  great  friend  of  Luther's, 
and  may  be  said  to  have  quite  turned  Protestant 
in  1529,  the  year  when  the  Protestant  form  of 
worship  was  practically  established  throughout 
Saxony. 

His  patron  died  in  1525,  but  his  successors, 
Electors  John  and  John  Frederick,  the  latter 
already  a  generation  younger  than  Cranach, 
continued  to  hold  him  in  high  favour.  In 
1537  he  was  elected  Burgomaster  of  Witten- 
berg;  in  1540  for  the  second  time.  His  many 
occupations  prevented  him  from  executing  all 
works  with  his  own  hands.  He  had  what  one 
might  call  a  sort  of  picture  factory,  like  Rubens 
later  on,  where  pictures  and  replicas  were  painted 
from  his  sketches  and  designs,  many  of  which 
he  will  scarcely  have  touched.  At  this  time  he 
changed  his  mark ;  the  dragon  now  has  droop- 
ing bird's  wings. 

On  the  24th  of  April  1547,  Elector  John 


HEAD  OF  ST.  CATHERINE 
(Detail  from  the  painting  by  Lucas  Cranack  at  Dresden) 


THE  TWO  CRANACHS  163 

Frederick  was  captured  by  Charles  V.  in  the 
Battle  at  Muhlberg.  The  Elector  summoned 
Cranach,  in  1550,  to  Augsburg,  and  thence  he 
went  along  with  his  patron  in  voluntary  cap- 
tivity to  Innsbruck,  where  he  remained  until 
both  were  liberated  in  1552.  He  then  accom- 
panied his  master  to  Weimar,  working  here, 
as  he  had  been  at  Innsbruck,  and  died  on  the 
3rd  of  March,  1554,  at  Weimar. 

Lukas  Cranach  the  younger  was  a  second  son. 
The  first  son's  name  was  John.  He  was  born 
about  1503,  was  full  of  promise,  but  died  young, 
while  studying  at  Bologna,  in  the  year  1536. 
Lukas  the  younger  was  born  on  the  4th  of 
October  15 15,  at  Wittenberg,  was  of  course  a 
pupil  of  his  father,  and  will  have  been  freed  of 
the  guild  when  he  entered  his  father's  studio  in 
1537.  He  did,  in  fact,  succeed  his  father  as 
head  of  a  school,  principal  of  the  studio,  and  in 
all  the  municipal  positions  and  honours,  even  in 
the  use  of  his  artist's  mark.  He  died  on  the 
25th  of  January  1586,  at  Weimar,  whither  he 
had  escaped  from  Wittenberg,  on  account  of  the 
pestilence  prevailing  there. 

The  establishment  of  a  school  has  done  much 
to  ruin  the  personal  reputation  of  Lukas  the 
elder.     The  enormous  factory-like  output  has 


164    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

lowered  the  standard  of  the  work  which  passes 
under  his  name.  We  obtain  a  fair  idea  of  his 
truly  remarkable  powers  from  first  to  last  when 
we  glance  at  work  which  he  executed  altogether 
himself,  such  as  the  "  Crucifixion "  at  Schleiss- 
heim,  or  the  fine  '  i  Rest  upon  the  Flight,"  his 
earliest  dated  and  signed  picture,  now  at  Berlin, 
and  the  splendid  "  Self-Portrait  "  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven,  in  the  Uffizi  at  Florence,  one  of 
his  latest  productions.  He  is  remarkable  for 
his  inclination  to  loveliness,  or  even  prettiness, 
rather  than  grandeur  or  beauty,  and  for  his 
thoroughly  middle-class  ideal  when  he  seeks  to 
popularise  mythological  subjects,  or  pursues  the 
painting  of  the  nude. 

Works  by  Lukas  Cranach  the  elder,  or  at 
least  such  hailing  from  his  studio,  are  to  be  met 
with  in  almost  every  public  gallery  from  St. 
Petersburg  ("  Venus  and  Cupid ")  to  Madrid 
("  Hunting  Pieces"),  from  London  ("  Half- 
length  Portrait  of  a  Young  Woman  "),  to  Buda- 
pest ("  Christ  and  the  Woman  taken  in  adultery"). 
The  many  replicas  of  his  queer  conception  of  the 
"  Judgment  of  Paris  "  (in  elaborate  sixteenth-cen- 
tury costuming)  belong  to  his  best-known  work. 
He  executed  a  few  engravings  upon  copper,  with 
rather  a  weak,  undignified  burin.    But  his  wood- 


THE   fUDGMENT  01  PARIS 
(  Karlsruhe) 


THE  TWO  CRANACHS  165 

cut  work  is  important,  in  portraiture  and  in 
religious  subjects.  The  style  of  his  woodcuts 
corresponds  to  that  of  his  paintings.  He  is  one 
of  the  earliest  masters  of  chiaroscuro  woodcuts, 
seeming  to  have  used  two  blocks  only,  and  to 
have  printed  high  lights  with  gold  and  silver. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  topics  connected 
with  Lukas  Cranach  the  elder  is  a  discussion  of 
what  work  he  did  prior  to  1504,  the  date  upon 
the  above-mentioned  * '  Rest  upon  the  Flight  into 
Egypt."  Many  various  theories  have  been 
broached  and  works  claimed  for  him,  that 
have  hitherto  been  connected  with  the  School  of 
Ratisbon  ("  Altdorfer  ")  or  that  of  AschafTenburg 
("  Gninewald  ").  As  no  definite  results  have 
as  yet  been  reached,  this,  being  still  a  matter  of 
criticism,  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  the 
present  volume,  after  the  attention  of  the  reader 
has  once  been  called  to  the  existence  of  such  a 
controversy. 

Lukas  the  younger' s  style  greatly  resembled 
that  of  his  father.  His  coloration  may  be  said 
to  have  been  more  brilliant.  He  was,  above  all, 
a  good  painter  of  portraits,  as  various  specimens 
of  his  craft  in  the  Gallery  and  Historical  Museum 
at  Dresden,  and  in  the  castle  at  Moritzburg  go 
to  prove.    The  Dresden  Gallery  further  preserves 


1 66    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

two  large  subjects  of  "  Hercules  and  the  Pigmies  " 
by  his  hand.  Others  are  to  be  found  in  Annaberg 
in  Saxony  ("  St.  Anne's  Church  "),  in  the  Museum 
at  Braunschweig,  at  Dessau  (' ' The  Lord's  Supper" 
in  the  Palace  Church),  in  the  Museums  at  Leipsic 
and  Nuremberg,  in  the  main  church  at  Witten- 
berg, &c. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS 

"The  ancient  philosophers  often  violently  dis- 
puted the  point,  whether  the  character  of  one 
man  is  enabled  by  peculiarly  happy  constellations 
of  the  stars,  or  by  the  good  and  well-tempered 
atmosphere  of  some  country  or  other,  to  grasp 
a  thing  well  and  with  ease,  to  which  another 
cannot  attain  with  utmost  perseverance,  pains,  and 
work  ;  and  since  experience  had  taught  them 
that  in  some  cities  and  countries  most  excellent 
artists  indeed  are  born,  yet  at  the  same  time 
awkward,  gawkish  fellows — and  these  latter,  in- 
deed, by  far  more  numerous — so  they  have 
seriously  doubted  that  the  atmosphere  exercises 
any  influence  at  all.  Quite  so  the  amateurs  of 
stars  have  come  to  just  the  same  understanding, 
seeing  that  under  the  ascendancy  of  one  and 
the  same  star  altogether  dissimilar  people  are 
born.  Righteous  Christians,  in  truth,  rather 
ascribe  the  greater  abilities  of  one   man  over 

another  to  the  Creator  of  all  being,  through 
i67 


1 68    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

whose  Grace  one  man  is  gifted  above  his 
neighbour. 

"  This  introduction  is  occasioned  by  the  famous 
artist,  Hans  Holbein,  because  he  is  said  to  have 
originated  in  the  raw  and  pretty  dreary  country 
of  Switzerland.  Carel  van  Mander  supposed 
that  the  artist  was  born  about  the  year  1498  at 
Basle.  But  the  4  Book  of  the  Painters'  Gild  at 
Basle '  gives  us  more  precise  information,  namely, 
that  Hans  Holbein  the  elder,  who  was  like- 
wise a  good  painter,  lived  round  about  the  said 
year  at  Augsburg,  where  he  was  a  citizen,  and 
removed  his  family  subsequently  to  Basle,  where 
he  taught  his  own  craft  to  his  son,  the  younger 
Hans  Holbein,  whom  he  had  enlisted  as  a  prentice 
in  the  Gild  book.  This  is  further  authenticated 
by  Hans  the  younger' s  portrait  drawings  of  his 
father  and  of  this  one's  brother,  who  was  also  a 
painter  (both  of  which  originals  lie  before  me) 
and  upon  which  these  words  are  to  be  found  : 
*  Effigy  of  Hans  Holbein  the  elder,  Painter  ; '  and 
upon  the  other :  c  Sigmund  Holbein,  Painter  and 
Brother  of  the  elder.' 

"  Several  pieces  by  the  hand  of  the  elder 
Holbein  may  be  found  at  Augsburg,  one  of  which 
was  bought  by  the  amateur,  Von  Walberg,  for 
several  thousands. 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  169 

u  A  very  big  painting  of  his,  representing  the 
1  Annunciation,'  is  to  be  found  in  St.  Catherine's 
Nunnery  there ;  and  in  another  very  large  panel 
he  represented,  with  figures  of  half  the  size  of 
life,  the  whole  of  the  life  and  conversion  of 
St.  Paul,  most  carefully  painted,  and  signed  with 
these  words :  Prasens  opus  complevit  Johannes 
Holbein  civis  Augustanus.  In  another  biblical 
picture,  in  which  there  is  a  bell,  he  signed  him- 
self upon  it  thus  :  1  Hans  Holbein,  1499.'  " 

"  Now,  as  to  the  younger  Holbein,  he  finished 
various  excellent  works  in  his  native  town,  Basle, 
of  which  some  may  be  seen  at  the  Town  Hall 
there,  among  them  the  *  Passion,'  in  a  series  of 
eight  pieces  of  admirable  invention,  with  deli- 
cate landscapes,  clever  observance  of  night  and 
day  light,  and  so  masterly  in  coloration  and  all 
manners  of  craft,  that  nothing  more  perfect  by 
his  hand  may  be  found  elsewhere.  When  I,  in 
the  year  1644,  was  painting  the  portrait  of  His 
Grace  the  late  Duke  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  of 
sacred  memory,  and  amusing  him  with  an  account 
of  the  excellence  of  these  pieces  while  he  was 
sitting  for  me,  he  was  graciously  pleased  to  feel 
so  strong  a  desire  to  see  them,  that  he  expressly 
sent  a  messenger  to  buy  them  for  the  price  at 
which  they  were  to  be  had.    Since,  however, 


170    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

this  messenger  did  not  go  to  work  about  the 
thing  cleverly,  he  had  to  return  without  having 
accomplished  anything,  beyond  acquainting  the 
town  with  the  high  value  of  these  panels. 
Further,  there  is  a  very  clever  '  Dance  of 
Peasants'  by  him  on  the  Fish  Market,  besides 
the  famous  4  Dance  of  Death,'  which  shows 
with  the  help  of  many  figures  that  Death  rapes 
all  mankind  regardless  of  their  station,  not  caring 
for  the  Power  of  Popes,  Emperors,  and  Kings, 
nor  the  riches  of  the  mighty,  nor  the  simplicity 
and  poverty  of  the  country-folk ;  yes,  indeed, 
he  does  not  spare  the  child  in  the  womb,  heeds 
not  the  grief  of  parent,  nor  any  more  the  fool- 
hardiness  of  soldiers  who  scoff  at  him,  as  these 
pieces,  issued  as  woodcuts,  clearly  discover. 
Further,  there  is  by  him,  even  there,  a  naked 
body  of  *  Our  Lord  descended  from  the  Cross,' 
a  painting  for  which  iooo  ducats  have  been 
offered,  although  it  does  not  represent  his 
common  manner,  as  well  as  others  of  his 
works.  Besides  these  there  are  at  Basle  por- 
traits of  his  wife  and  child  painted  by  him, 
all  in  all,  perhaps,  twenty  painted  pieces, 
besides  many  drawings  upon  paper,  which  are 
held  in  high  esteem,  and  were  bought  by  the 
magistrates  at  a  high  price,  in  order  that  they 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  171 

might  ever  be  shown  there  to  art-amateurs  as 
things  of  great  value. 

"As  far  as  I  know  he  never  was  in  Italy,  but 
became  acquainted  with  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam 
at  Basle,  who,  when  he  had  recognised  Holbein's 
excellence,  esteemed  him  and  sought  to  further 
him.  Therefore  Holbein  painted  his  portrait 
so  skilfully,  that  it  could  have  been  improved 
upon  by  no  one,  whereupon  Erasmus  wrote  to 
his  schoolfellow  and  intimate  friend,  Thomas 
More,  Chancellor  of  England,  recommending 
this  Holbein  to  him,  and  begging  him  to  help 
him  into  the  service  of  his  King  Henry  VIII., 
a  particular  amateur  of  the  Arts,  and  gave 
him  the  portrait,  along  with  a  letter  testifying 
to  its  great  likeness.  This  pleased  Holbein 
well  enough,  since  he  had  at  home  a  bad 
housewife,  who  was  always  quarrelling  and 
scolding  ;  so  he  was  glad  to  travel  thither. 

"  Upon  arriving  with  the  letter  and  portrait 
as  a  proof  of  his  skill  at  the  Chancellor's, 
Thomas  More,  in  England,  he  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  him,  who  was  greatly  pleased  by 
the  portrait  of  Erasmus.  He  retained  him  for 
about  three  years,  the  King  not  knowing  any- 
thing about  it ;  and  he  had  him  always  work 
by  himself,  lest,  if  he  should    let   the  King 


172    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

see  or  know  anything  of  Holbein,  he  would 
no  longer  be  able  to  supply  his  wants.  Thus 
he  painted  portraits  of  the  Chancellor,  of  his 
wife,  and  of  all  his  friends,  until,  finally,  Thomas 
More,  having  satisfied  his  own  desires,  as  it 
were,  invited  the  King  one  day  to  a  magnificent 
banquet  in  his  house,  and  showed  him  the 
capital  paintings  of  this  artist.  The  King  con- 
fessed he  had  never  seen  any  the  like  before, 
since  he  now  saw  many  persons  whom  he 
knew,  not  otherwise  as  if  they  were  standing 
alive  and  in  the  flesh  before  him.  When  More 
noticed  the  pleasure  the  King  was  taking  in 
these  pictures,  he  offered  him  all  of  them  as  a 
present,  saying :  '  All  of  them  are  at  your 
service,'  whereupon  the  King,  accepting  them 
with  thanks,  inquired  :  6  Can  one  not  have  the 
master  himself? '  and  when  More  had  answered 
'Yes,'  and  had  also  Holbein  brought  before  the 
King,  the  King  was  so  delighted  that  he  returned 
the  .presents  to  More,  saying :  '  Now  that  I  have 
the  master  himself,  I  shall  easily  fill  my  desires.' 

"  In  this  manner  the  King  kept  Holbein  in 
high  esteem,  and  was  delighted  to  have  so 
excellent  an  artist  about  him,  and  he  had  him 
paint  many  portraits  which  are  still  to  be  seen 
at  London.    In  fact,  the  favour  of  the  King 


Holbein 


PORTRAIT  OF  ERASMUS 
<  Loin-re) 


Man  sell 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  173 

towards  Holbein  was  steadily  on  the  increase, 
since  he  amused  him  in  all  ways,  which  partiality 
on  the  part  of  the  King  is  proved  sufficiently 
by  the  following  story.  It  happened  one  day 
that  an  English  earl  came  to  visit  Holbein, 
because  he  was  curious  to  see  his  art,  or  that 
upon  which  he  just  happened  to  be  working, 
which,  however,  did  not  at  all  suit  Holbein, 
because  he  was  portraying  from  the  life,  and 
wanted  to  keep  it  secret.  He  therefore  begged 
the  Earl  two  or  three  times,  and  very  politely, 
to  excuse  him,  and  he  would  gladly  attend  him 
some  other  time,  and  not  to  take  it  ill.  But 
no  matter  what  kindly  excuses  Holbein  offered, 
the  Earl  did  not  desist,  and  wanted  to  force 
his  way  upstairs,  deeming  it  that  his  person 
deserved  more  respect  at  the  hands  of  a  painter. 
But  Holbein  did  not  quite  understand  him,  and 
after  he  had  warned  him  once  more  to  relinquish 
his  plan,  the  Earl  persevering,  however,  Holbein 
caught  hold  of  him  and  threw  him  down  the 
stairs,  who,  in  falling,  cried  out,  *  The  Lord 
have  mercy  upon  me  ! 1  His  retinue  and  servants, 
alarmed  at  the  bad  fall,  were  busy  with  their 
master,  so  that  Holbein  double-locked  his  door 
in  the  meanwhile,  and  getting  out  of  the  window 
in  the  roof,  he  rushed  to  the  King,  begging  for 


174    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

pardon,  without  relating  what  had  happened, 
although  the  King  inquired  several  times.  How- 
ever, his  Majesty  granted  him  pardon  before 
he  had  learned  what  it  was  all  about.  After 
he  had  been  informed  of  the  affair,  he  feigned 
to  have  repented  that  he  had  granted  so  ill  a 
pardon,  and  said  he  should  never  dare  to  do 
such  a  thing  again,  bidding  him  not  to  leave, 
but  to  remain  in  an  adjoining  chamber,  until 
it  transpired  how  matters  lay  with  the  Earl. 
Presently  this  one  was  brought  in  on  a  litter, 
all  bruised  and  bound  up,  and  complaining 
bitterly  of  the  painter  before  the  King.  He 
made  out  his  case  as  best  he  could,  and  swayed 
considerably  from  the  truth,  which  the  King  did 
not  fail  to  notice.  At  the  end  of  his  say  he 
petitioned  the  King  to  punish  Holbein  as  having 
raised  his  hand  against  his  person.  When  he 
noticed  how  very  little  the  King  was  inclined 
his  way,  he  made  it  plain  that  he  would  seek 
his  revenge  himself,  whereupon  the  King  waxed 
wroth  at  the  want  of  respect  shown  by  the  Earl, 
who  wanted  to  be  judge  in  his  own  suit,  and 
did  not  sufficiently  heed  the  decision  of  the 
King.  Threateningly  he  exclaimed  :  '  Now  the 
matter  no  longer  concerns  Holbein,  but  the 
dignity  of  my  Royal  person.    Do  you  think 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  175 

that  I  care  so  little  for  the  man  ?  I  tell  you, 
Earl,  I  can  make  seven  Earls  out  of  seven 
peasants,  if  it  so  please  me,  but  out  of  seven 
Earls  not  a  single  Holbein.'  Whereupon  the 
Earl  was  frightened,  besought  his  King's  pardon, 
and  vowed  to  act  in  accordance  with  his  plea- 
sure ;  and  the  King  commanded  him  not  to 
dare  to  try  and  revenge  himself  upon  Holbein 
in  any  manner,  nor  to  engage  others  to  do  it, 
for  anything  that  happened  to  him,  he,  the 
King,  would  take  as  having  been  directed  against 
his  own  Royal  person. 

"  During  the  period  of  his  services  there  he 
painted  the  portrait  of  King  Henry  VIII.,  life- 
size,  so  well  that  every  one  who  looks  at  the 
picture  is  astonished,  since  it  seems  to  live  as  if 
it  moved  its  head  and  limbs.  Again,  there  is  in 
Whitehall  Palace  there  a  work  which  praises  its 
master,  and  proves  that  he  was  truly  an  Apelles. 
He  also  painted  King  Henry's  three  children 
— Edward,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth — which  may 
be  seen  there,  and  many  of  the  principal  folk, 
men  and  women,  of  the  realm.  And  in  the 
Surgeons'  Hall,  at  London,  there  is  an  exquisite 
piece  by  this  hand,  in  the  room  where  the  master 
of  the  Guild  or  Society  of  Surgeons,  receives  the 
privileges.    In  it  King  Henry,  large  as  life,  is 


176    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

seated  on  a  magnificent  throne,  with  a  carpet 
under  his  feet ;  before  him  the  said  master  kneels 
and  hands  the  King  the  draft  of  their  privileges, 
which  one  of  the  retinue  dutifully  receives  ;  and 
although  some  believe  that  Holbein  did  not  finish 
this  piece  himself,  but  that  some  one  else  com- 
pleted it  after  his  death,  yet  it  is  quite  certain 
that  he  who  did  so,  be  he  who  he  may,  at  least 
approached  very  closely  to  Holbein,  so  that  one 
cannot  be  easily  distinguished  from  the  other. 

"  Very  many  excellent  portraits  by  his  hand 
are  likewise  to  be  seen  in  various  palaces  of  the 
nobility,  in  such  numbers  that  it  is  a  matter  for 
wonder  how  he  could  ever  have  finished  so  many, 
besides  what  he  drew  for  the  goldsmiths,  painters, 
engravers,  woodcutters,  and  what  he  embossed 
in  wax.  For  the  rest,  he  painted  in  oils  and  in 
water-colours ;  nor  was  he  less  skilful  in  minia- 
ture, which,  indeed,  he  was  not  acquainted  with 
before  he  came  to  the  King ;  but  seeing  one 
Lucas,  who  was  very  excellent  therein,  he  tried 
his  hand  at  it,  and  since  he  was  stronger  in 
draughtsmanship,  posing,  and  general  under- 
standing, he  presently  excelled  this  Lucas  as 
much  as  the  sun  excels  the  moon.  Further,  there 
are  by  him,  at  London,  two  masterly  pieces  in 
water-colours — one  <  The  Triumph  of  Wealth,' 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  177 

the  other  '  The  State  of  Poverty.'  Wealth  is 
depicted  by  Pluto  or  Dis,  in  the  shape  of  an  old, 
bald  man  seated  in  an  antique,  ornamental,  gilt 
chariot,  diving  with  one  hand  in  a  basket  of  gold, 
and  scattering  gold  and  silver  coins  with  the 
other.  Near  him  are  Fortune  and  Fame  ;  beside 
him  in  the  chariot  are  treasures  and  moneys, 
and  behind  the  chariot  there  are  various  people 
struggling  to  get  some  of  the  money.  The  rich 
lords  of  antiquity — like  Croesus,  Midas,  &c. — 
walk  beside  the  chariot,  which  is  drawn  by  four 
beautiful  horses  accompanied  by  as  many  female 
figures,  whose  names  are  written  either  near  their 
heads  or  at  their  feet.  All  of  the  figures  are  life- 
size,  faces,  hands,  and  feet  in  flesh-colour,  the 
garments  in  various  hues,  and  everything  very 
natural.  The  other  piece,  *  The  State  of 
Poverty/  is  depicted  thus:  An  old,  famished, 
wan  woman  is  seated  upon  a  rickety  waggon  on 
a  bundle  of  straw,  under  a  sort  of  hut  with  a 
battered,  torn  roof,  looking  very  miserable,  and 
clothed  in  a  wretched,  tattered  gown.  Two 
oxen  and  two  asses  draw  her  waggon,  which  some 
meanly  dressed  men  and  women  precede.  The 
peasant  and  the  artisan  that  lead  the  procession 
hold  their  carpenter's  squares,  hammers,  flails. 
In  front  of  the  waggon  Hope  is  seated,  raising 

M 


178    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

her  face  heavenwards  full  of  emotion,  with  many 
further  details.  To  cut  it  short,  this  work  is 
full  of  skill  and  thought,  elaborated  poetically 
and  philosophically,  ornamental,  and  distin- 
guished by  its  draughtsmanship  as  well  as  its 
composition.  These  two  pieces  he  had  made, 
and  Federigo  Zucchero,  when  he  was  in  England 
about  the  year  1574,  said  of  them,  on  account  of 
the  great  care  employed  in  their  painting,  that 
they  were  as  good  as  if  Raffaello  d'Urbino  himself 
had  done  them. 

"  Further,  Holbein  painted  the  portrait  of  a 
countess,  dressed  in  black  and  white  satin,  life- 
size,  which  formerly  was  kept  in  the  residence  of 
My  lord  Pembroke,  which,  when  Federigo  saw  it 
along  with  other  painters,  pleased  him  to  such 
a  degree  that  he  said  he  had  never  beheld  in 
Rome  a  piece  done  so  skilfully  and  neatly ;  and 
he  departed  filled  with  admiration.  It  happened 
that  a  great  amateur  of  art,  called  Andrew  van 
Loo,  was  in  London  some  time  ago,  who,  buying 
up  everything  by  Holbein's  hand  that  he  could 
lay  hands  upon,  gathered  together  a  great  number 
of  wondrous  portraits  by  this  artist.  Among 
them  there  was  a  very  masterly  painting,  the 
half  life-size  picture  of  the  King's  astronomer, 
surrounded  by  many  astronomical  instruments, 


THE  TWO  HOLBE1NS  179 

one  Magister  Nicholas.  He  was  a  German  or 
Dutchman,  and  had  lived  going  on  for  thirty 
years  in  England,  when  the  King,  for  pastime, 
once  asked  him  how  it  happened  that  he  couldn't 
speak  English  better.  '  But/  he  answered,  1  crav- 
ing your  Majesty's  pardon,  how  could  any  one 
learn  English  in  thirty  years  ? '  At  which  the  King 
and  all  the  bystanders  laughed  heartily. 

"  This  aforesaid  Van  Loo  possessed  further 
by  this  hand,  the  portrait  of  Lord  Crawhall  (?), 
about  a  foot  and  a  half  high,  and  of  the  learned 
and  famous  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  of  which  it 
has  been  reported  above,  how  very  like  it  was. 
Besides  these,  this  same  amateur  possessed  a 
large  water-colour  which  displayed  Thomas 
More,  his  wife,  son,  and  daughters,  and  which 
was  worthy  of  praise  as  the  very  epitome 
of  his  art,  for  its  composition  alone  if  for 
nothing  else.  The  renowned  Earl  of  Arundel, 
who  spared  neither  gold  nor  silver  if  anything 
by  Holbein  was  to  be  had,  collected  a  whole 
gallery  full  of  his  paintings,  likewise  whole 
books  full  of  drawings,  partly  done  in  pen  and 
ink  and  wash,  partly  drawn  painstakingly  with 
cross-hatching  as  if  they  had  been  engraved  on 
copper,  partly  executed  large  in  black  chalk 
on    paper — all    of   them    masterly   and  neat, 


180    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  in  such  numbers  that  I  would  not  have 
believed  how  one  man  could  do  so  many  care- 
fully executed  biblical  and  secular  pictures,  also 
subjects  extracted  from  poetry,  if  I  had  not 
seen  them  myself,  and  held  them  in  my  very 
hands.  In  short,  he  was  well  versed  in  almost 
everything,  and  almost  supernaturally  quick  at 
them  all. 

"The  said  Earl  of  Arundel  showed  me  several 
times  a  little  i6mo  volume  which  this  noble  hand 
had  filled  with  drawings,  in  which  was  contained 
the  whole  of  the  *  Lord's  Passion 1  on  twenty- 
two  sheets.  How  small  they  were  may  easily 
be  imagined  ;  still  they  were  all  executed  most 
painstakingly  and  neatly,  just  as  if  they  were 
miniatures,  and  among  other  things  they  showed 
the  figure  of  our  Redeemer  every  time  in  the 
shape  of  a  monk  clad  in  black.  One  day,  as  I 
was  speaking  about  this  work  to  the  worshipful 
Knight,  Inigo  Jones,  servant  and  famous  archi- 
tect of  the  King,  he  carried  me  into  the  Kings 
Cabinet,  where  he  showed  me,  among  other 
things,  a  book  which  this  artist  had  filled  with 
drawings  of  all  manners  of  poniards,  vessels, 
ornaments,  trinkets  and  foliage,  also  mountings 
for  scabbards,  for  sword  -  chains,  belts,  buttons 
for  the  King's  mantle,  hat-bands,  buckles  for 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  181 


shoes  as  they  were  worn  at  that  time,  all 
executed  with  the  most  careful  finish  ;  and  again, 
designs  for  large  and  small  spoons,  gold  and 
silver  plate,  knife-handles  and  forks,  salt-cellars, 
large  and  small  book-covers,  besides  a  deal  of 
other  Royal  ornaments,  which  it  would  take 
very  long  to  relate. 

i 1  Moreover,  in  the  famous  Art  Cabinet  of  the 
wealthy  amateur  and  agent  of  the  Swedish  Court 
at  Amsterdam,  the  worshipful  Mr.  Michael  Le 
Blon,  paintings,  engravings,  and  drawings  by  his 
hand  were  on  view ;  for  example,  '  A  Scholar 9 
near  a  fine  building,  with  Death  and  his  hour- 
glass standing  behind  him,  several  portraits,  a 
'  Venus  and  Cupid/  and  other  things,  neatly 
painted.  Thereto  I  made  this  same  gentleman 
a  present  of  Holbein's  own  portrait,  excellently 
done  in  a  round,  in  memory  of  favours  received 
when  I  took  leave  from  him  and  travelled  to 
Germany.  This  gentleman  long  ago  yielded  to 
the  earnest  prayers  of  the  book-keeper,  John 
LOssert,  and  sold  to  him  for  3000  florins  a 
panel  with  the  4  Holy  Mary '  standing,  her 
Child  on  her  arm,  and  a  carpet  beneath,  upon 
which  several  kneel  before  her,  portrayed  after 
life ;  the  magnificence  of  this  picture  appears 
from  the  drawings  that  may  be  found  in  our 


1 82    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Sandrart's  book  of  drawings.  Besides  which  I 
possess  still  more  by  this  noteworthy  hand, 
among  other  things  a  6  Passion '  on  folio  sheets, 
two  pieces  of  which  series  I  lack,  which  had 
disappeared  before  I  got  the  set,  but  which 
must  be  in  somebody's  possession  still ;  and 
I  would  gladly  give  200  florins  for  them  if  I 
could  get  them,  so  that  I  could  show  the  set 
of  the  '  Passion '  complete  to  amateurs  for  the 
greater  fame  of  Holbein. 

"  In  fine,  to  condense  his  praise  in  a  few 
words,  he  was,  while  still  among  the  living, 
esteemed  so  highly  that  the  most  prominent 
Italians  did  not  hesitate  to  introduce  much  that 
he  had  invented  into  their  own  works,  especi- 
ally Michael  Angelo  Caravaggio,  who  borrowed 
1  Matthaeus  summoned  by  Christ  from  the 
Customs,'  also  '  The  Gamester  sweeping  the 
Coin  from  the  Table,'  and  other  things.  Thus 
I  recollect  that  in  the  year  1627  the  famous, 
aged  Paul  Rubens,  on  his  way  to  Utrecht,  where 
the  virtuosi  visited  Honthorst  and  then  passed 
on  to  Amsterdam,  was  lost  in  speculation  about 
the  little  book  with  Holbein's  '  Dance  of  Death ' 
in  the  boat  under  way,  and  praised  it  very  highly 
with  the  advice,  that  I,  as  a  young  man,  should 
take  the  study  of  the  book  well  to  heart,  for 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  183 

he  himself  copied  the  book  in  his  younger  days, 
as  well  as  Tobias  Stimmer's  book,  taking  occasion 
therefrom  to  discuss  most  pleasantly  Holbein, 
Albrecht  Durer,  Stimmer,  and  the  other  old 
German  masters,  the  whole  time  we  were  on 
our  way.  Finally,  whoever  sees  his  works,  per- 
force must  admit  that  in  all  of  them  there  is 
beautiful  invention,  posing,  and  composition,  and 
that  he  arranged  his  pictures  very  differently 
from  other  painters.  The  subjects  of  his  works 
were  mostly  taken  from  old  and  excellent  his- 
tories, such  as  that  of  Anne,  the  mother  of 
Samuel,  and  Elkanah  her  husband,  and  the 
announcement  of  Uriah's  death  to  David. 
Further,  how  Abisag  comes  to  him,  and 
Hiram's  messenger  brings  a  letter  to  Solomon, 
quite  masterly  and  far  above  the  modern 
manner ;  how  Solomon  sits  upon  a  throne,  in 
rich  royal  robes,  with  bare  arms,  like  the  people 
of  antiquity,  as  if  they  had  been  robbed,  about 
which  picture  the  excellent  Latin  poet,  Nicholas 
Borbonius,  wrote  many  verses  full  of  art,  laud- 
ing the  artist.  Many  of  Holbein's  drawings, 
too,  have  been  conscientiously  etched  on  copper 
by  the  hand  of  our  Wenceslaus  Hollar,  and 
partly  by  Van  der  Borch,  the  King  of  England's 
court-painter,  prints  of  which  are  extant,  for 


i84    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

example,  the  '  Queen  of  Sheba '  visiting  Solomon 
enthroned. 

"After  this  artist  had  conferred  much  orna- 
ment by  means  of  his  noble  art,  he  was  forced 
to  take  leave  of  this  frail  world,  in  which  every- 
thing is  but  ephemeral,  as  he  died  of  the  plague 
in  London  in  the  year  1554,  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  entrusting  his  name  indeed  to 
eternity,  but  his  body  to  an  unascertained  grave. 
For  when  the  famous  Marshall  of  the  Realm, 
the  Earl  of  Arundel,  tried  by  every  means  to 
discover  when  and  in  which  church  he  was 
buried,  in  order  to  honour  him  with  a  worthy 
and  precious  tomb  (he  failed).  For  having  died 
at  the  time  of  the  plague,  and  having  been  cast 
in  a  common  grave  with  others,  as  was  customary, 
his  Lordship  and  Excellency  could  not  obtain 
any  precise  information  in  spite  of  his  earnest 
endeavours. 

"  However,  a  noble,  praiseworthy  monument 
has  been  erected  to  him,  in  the  living  memory 
of  all  connoisseurs  of  art,  which  is  not  subject 
to  the  vicissitudes  of  Time,  but  which  will  con- 
tinue longer  than  marble,  and  the  praise  of  which 
will  go  on  growing  like  an  evergreen  laurel-tree, 
down  to  unthinkable  ages." 

Later  on,  in  his  book,  Sandrart  gives  an  account 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  185 

of  several  of  the  "  Fine  Art  Cabinets  "  he  visited, 
and  the  work  of  the  younger  Holbein  is  that  upon 
which  he  dwells  more  at  length.  In  his  account 
of  Zurich,  he  speaks  of  a  table  "  quite  painted 
over  by  our  Holbein,  the  younger.  Upon  it  he 
represents,  done  skilfully  in  oils,  the  so-called 
'  Saint  Nobody/  captive  and  altogether  sad,  his 
mouth  closed  with  a  big  padlock,  seated  on  an 
old  broken  barrel.  He  is  surrounded  by  old 
torn  books,  earthen  and  metal  pots,  glass  vessels, 
dishes,  and  all  manner  of  house  utensils,  but 
everything  broken  and  spoilt.  An  open  letter 
lying  close  by,  upon  which  Holbein's  name  is 
written,  is  painted  so  true  to  nature  that  many 
have  tried  to  pick  it  up,  thinking  that  it  was 
real  and  that  they  could  take  it  into  their  hands. 
The  rest  of  the  table  is  decorated  with  hunting- 
pieces  and  foliage." 

Coming  to  Basle,  he  relates :  "  By  this  noble 
hand"  (/.*.  Holbein's)  "Erasmus  possessed  many 
works  in  his  cabinet  and  library,  which  he 
bequeathed  later  on  to  the  famous  Amerbach, 
who  added  notably  to  his  stock  by  the  purchase 
of  original  drawings  and  his  portrait,  collecting 
all  the  paintings  he  could,  and  thus  himself 
left  an  excellent  art  cabinet  behind  him." 
"  The  worshipful   Municipal   Council  did  not 


1 86    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

permit  the  heirs  to  take  it  out  of  the  city,  but 
bought  it,  as  is  reported,  for  the  sum  of  9000 
crowns,  and  handed  it  over  to  the  University, 
where  this  treasure  is  now  on  view,  beside  the 
library  of  world-renown,  which  boasts  of  a 
multitude  of  Manuscripts.  The  most  precious 
part  of  the  art  treasures  is  made  up  of  about 
twenty  original  paintings  by  Holbein,  in  which 
there  appears  more  understanding  and  painstaking 
care  than  could  ever  be  duly  praised.  Among 
them  there  are  several  excellent  portraits,  and 
also  subject  pictures,  notably  a  prostrate,  expired 
Christ,  foreshortened,  which  alone  has  been  valued 
at  many  thousand  ducats,  without  the  other  lesser 
pictures  which  it  surpasses,  such  as  a  '  Last 
Supper,'  '  Lucrece,'  '  Venus  and  Cupid,'  *  Hol- 
bein's self-portrait  with  his  Wife,'  and  the  por- 
trait of  Erasmus,  a  whole  length  standing  and 
writing  with  a  pen,  and  also  the  portrait  of 
Amerbach.  There  are  also  one  hundred  and 
twenty  original  drawings,  big  and  little,  executed 
in  various  techniques.  I  can  truly  say  that  I 
have  seen  such  quantities  of  drawings  by  Holbein 
in  England  at  King  Charles's,  he  being  my  first 
patron,  at  the  Earl  of  Arundel's  and  at  Pem- 
broke's, in  the  city  of  Basle,  at  Mr.  Michael 
Le  Blon's  in  Amsterdam,  at  Merian's,  and  also 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  187 


in  my  own  portfolio  of  drawings,  as  an  accom- 
plished and  industrious  hand  could  scarcely  copy 
within  eight  years'  time  !  " 

"  But  the  most  exquisite  and  very  acme  of  all 
his  art  is  the  1  Passion  of  Christ,'  painted  upon 
eight  compartments  of  a  panel,  and  carefully 
preserved  in  the  Town  Hall  at  Basle.  It  is  a 
work  containing  all  that  our  art  can  possibly 
accomplish,  as  well  of  pious  sentiment,  as  of  neat 
religious  and  secular  figures,  mighty  and  mean 
folk,  of  architecture  and  of  landscapes  by  day 
and  by  night.  This  picture  speaks  loudly  of 
its  author's  honour  and  fame,  and  none  either 
in  Italy  nor  in  Germany  can  vie  with  it,  since 
easily  it  carries  off  the  palm  before  all  the 
rest. 

"  Upon  the  organ-loft  there  are  to  be  seen 
painted  by  him  '  The  Annunciation,'  and  upon 
the ;  wings  4  King  David  with  his  Harp,'  and 
a  '  Bishop  with  charming,  chanting  Angels.' 
About  the  big  '  Dance  of  Death  '  in  the  Church 
of  St.  John  or  the  French  Church,  I  will, 
for  shortness  sake,  merely  say  that  I  wish  it 
were  to  be  seen  as  it  originally  appeared 
before  it  was  repainted  by  strange  hands.  There 
is  also  on  view  there,  on  a  corner  house,  a  '  Dance 
of  Peasants,'  painted  al  fresco  on  the  wet  plaster  ; 


1 88    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  still  another  house,  there,  shows  paintings  by 
Holbein  on  the  outside.  .  . 

The  elder  Holbein  seems  to  have  been  born 
in  the  year  1473,  according  to  latest  research. 
The  earliest  dated  paintings  by  his  hand  are  from 
the  year  1493  ;  m  tne  following  year  his  name 
appears  in  the  Augsburg  records.  Nothing  is 
known  of  where  and  from  whom  he  learnt  his 
art  except  what  his  work  itself  betrays,  the  in- 
fluence of  Schongauer  and  the  Netherlandish 
School.  Round  about  the  year  1499,  he  seems 
to  have  painted  in  Ulm.  He  was  not  thrifty, 
and  it  has  been  aptly  conjectured  that  he  was  too 
fond  of  sitting  in  the  tavern  amid  the  wine- 
drinkers.  His  sons  had  to  shift  early  for  them- 
selves, and  emigrated.  He  is  sued  from  the  year 
1 5 1 5  onward,  time  and  again,  for  debts,  and  finally, 
I5I7>  by  his  own  brother.  About  this  time  he 
left  Augsburg  for  Alsace,  and  painted  for  the 
Dominican  Convent  at  Isenheim.  There  he  died 
in  the  year  1524,  it  seems.  Two  years  later  his 
son  Hans  the  younger  resolutely  claims  the 
father's  belongings,  with  the  help  of  the  Burgo- 
master of  Basle. 

Holbein  the  elder  undergoes  a  great  change 
in  his  views  and  conception  of  art,  which  was  a 
mark  of  the  times,  upon  the  opening  of  the  Re- 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  189 

naissance  age.  The  change  appears  to  us  all  the 
more  momentous  because  we  know  virtually 
nothing  about  his  life  and  worldly  experiences — 
nothing  about  the  factor  which  had  so  strong 
an  influence  upon  this  artist  as  to  turn  a  truly 
44  Gothic,"  archaic  painter  into  one  who  really 
grasped  the  spirit  of  Renaissance  Art  with  more 
genuine  feeling  than  the  majority  of  his  contem- 
poraries. One  of  the  most  important  compo- 
nents of  the  elder  Holbein's  output  as  an  artist 
were  his  numerous  silver-point  drawings.  Por- 
traits, verging  upon  caricature  in  many  cases, 
make  up  a  round  number  of  these,  and  they  were 
probably  produced  while  in  the  tavern.  No 
doubt  he  frittered  away  his  time  and  energy  a 
good  deal  upon  this  kind  of  work  ;  but  we,  nowa- 
days, would  not  care  to  miss  them,  on  account 
of  their  delicacy  and  also  their  spirited  realism. 
They  are  to  be  found  in  the  print-rooms  of  the 
Museums  at  Bamberg,  Basle,  Berlin,  Copenhagen, 
Weimar,  &c. 

The  most  important  among  the  paintings  in 
Holbein  the  elder's  earlier  style  are  preserved  at 
Augsburg.  The  Cathedral  of  that  town  possesses 
four  altar-pieces,  once  upon  a  time  the  wings 
of  a  carved  altar  in  the  Abbey  of  Weingarten 
in  Suabia.     They  represent  "  The  Sacrifice  of 


190    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Joachim,"  "  The  Birth  of  the  Virgin,"  her  "  Pre- 
sentation in  the  Temple,"  and  the  "  Presentation 
of  the  Christ-child  in  the  Temple."  In  the 
Museum  at  Augsburg  are  kept  the  three  paint- 
ings by  the  elder  Holbein  which  he  did  for  the 
Convent  of  St.  Catherine,  and  which  belong  to 
the  set  of  six  upon  which  Burgkmairwas  likewise 
engaged,  as  we  have  learned  above.  Holbein's 
earliest  among  these  pictures  depicts  (besides 
several  sacred  scenes)  the  "  Santa  Maria  Maggiore 
Basilica  "  at  Rome,  and  was  bespoken  in  the  year 
1499.  The  most  important  one  is  that  with  the 
u  Basilica  of  St.  Paolo  fuori  le  mura."  It  con- 
tains, in  the  scene  showing  St.  Paul  preaching, 
that  delicious  figure  of  a  young,  well-dressed 
woman,  seated  amid  the  congregation  and  turning 
her  back  to  us,  which  is  meant  to  represent  Paul's 
disciple,  St.  Thekla.  Only  a  very  great  artist 
could  compass  such  a  degree  of  charm  in  this 
slight  figure,  as  has  been  done  here.  It  is  one 
of  the  memorable  instances  in  the  story  of  art 
where  a  master  has  accomplished  a  portrait  with- 
out showing  us  the  face — that  is,  given  us  the 
counterfeit  of  a  person  which  expresses  a  distinct 
character  and  such  intimate  traits  that  we  feel  we 
could  recognise  her  at  once,  though  her  face  has 
never  been  revealed  to  us.    The  same  painting 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  191 

offers  us,  in  the  scene  of  the  baptism  of  Paul, 
the  portraits  of  Holbein  himself  with  his  two 
children,  Hans  the  younger  and  Ambrosius.  The 
father,  with  long  hair  and  heavy,  full  beard, 
stands  behind  the  two  boys,  resting  his  hand  on 
the  head  of  the  smaller  one,  Hans. 

No  doubt  the  majority,  if  not  all,  of  the  other 
characters  on  these  pictures  are  portraits  of  friends 
and  patrons  of  Holbein ;  unfortunately,  there 
was  no  contemporary  historian  to  tell  us  whom 
they  represent. 

At  Frankfort  -  on  -  the  -  Main  are  preserved, 
though  not  intact  and  in  their  original  order,  the 
centre-piece,  a  "  Last  Supper,"  and  fifteen  panels 
from  the  wings  of  a  large  altar-piece,  painted  in 
the  year  1501  for  the  church  of  the  Dominican 
monks  at  this  place.  Like  similar  work  of 
the  early  Colognese  Masters,  the  altar  was  origi- 
nally nothing  more  than  a  painted  Passion-play, 
a  work  which  would  recall  to  the  beholders' 
memory  the  representations  as  they  had  wit- 
nessed them  before  and  in  the  church  on 
particular  holidays. 

About  a  picture  of  Holbein's  painted  in  the 
next  year  (1502)  we  read  in  an  old  chronicle  of 
the  Abbey  of  Kaisheim :  ''Since,  indeed,  this 
Abbot  George  had  a  particular  fancy  for  building 


192    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  decorating  this  house  of  God,  he  ordered  a 
precious  altar-piece  to  be  made  in  the  year  1502, 
upon  which  the  three  best  masters  of  Augsburg 
were  engaged,  the  best  which  at  that  time  were 
to  be  found  far  and  wide — namely,  the  master 
joiner  Adolf  Kastner,  the  sculptor  Master  Gre- 
gory, and  the  painter  Hans  Holbein.  This  altar 
stood  for  much  money."  The  interior  panels 
contain  scenes  from  the  life  of  Mary  and  the 
childhood  of  Jesus,  the  outside  panels  such  from 
the  Passion.  The  sixteen  panels  are  now  to  be 
seen  at  the  Munich  Gallery. 

All  these  paintings  are  still  "  Gothic  "  in  spirit, 
and  many  of  them  still  have  the  gold  background. 
Two  wings  of  an  altar,  with  figures  of  saints,  now 
at  Prague,  and  two  at  Augsburg — showing  the 
"  Martyrdom  of  St.  Catherine,"  the  "  Fish-miracle 
of  St.  Ulric,"  the  "  Crucifixion  of  St.  Peter,"  and 
"  St.  Anne,  the  Virgin,  and  the  Christ-child  " — 
discover  a  change  in  the  style  of  ornamentation 
as  well  as  in  the  painter-qualities  of  the  work. 
They  may  be  looked  upon  as  tentative  steps  in 
the  direction  of  Holbein's  later  style.  We  possess 
only  one  specimen  of  this  latter,  and  it  is  so  far 
above  everything  else  the  elder  Holbein  has  left 
us,  and  so  wonderful  in  itself,  that  for  a  long 
time  this  work,  the  St.  Sebastian  altar-piece  now 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  193 

in  the  Munich  Gallery,  was  attributed  to  the 
younger  Holbein. 

The  central  piece,  with  the  martyrdom,  is 
flanked  by  two  wings  showing  full  standing  figures 
of  "St.  Barbara"  and  "St.  Elizabeth,"  the  land- 
scape background  being  continuous  over  all  three 
panels.  The  outside  of  the  shutters  display  an 
"  Annunciation."  German  art  can  provide  no 
nude  figure  prior  to  this  painting  which  can 
equal  the  "  St.  Sebastian  "  in  draughtsmanship  and 
grace.  The  men  and  soldiers  surrounding  him 
are  engaged  in  the  scene,  and  do  not  simply  stand 
around.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  does  any  one 
of  them  show  the  exaggerated,  painfully  accen- 
tuated movements  or  gesticulations  into  which 
the  earlier  artists  plunged,  no  doubt  from  a 
feeling  of  misgiving  that  they  were  not  quite 
attaining  their  goal,  and  so  shooting  beyond  it. 
Holbein  allowed  his  political  convictions  a  voice 
in  the  picture.  Augsburg  was  at  that  time  an 
imperial  city,  always  at  loggerheads  with  the 
Bavarian  Government.  Holbein  therefore  dresses 
one  of  the  odious  soldiers  who  torture  the  saint 
in  the  Bavarian  colours,  blue  and  white  striped, 
to  give  vent  to  his  spite. 

There  is,  again,  no  one  figure  within  the  entire 
range  of  German  painting,  down  to  this  year  1 5 1 5, 

N 


194    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

that  can  compare  with  the  "  St.  Elizabeth."  In 
fact,  in  order  to  find  its  equal,  we  should  have  to 
cross  the  Alps.  The  beauty  of  form  which  we 
encounter  here  may  indeed  be  called  Italian. 

This  most  perfect  creation  of  the  elder  Holbein 
is  also  the  latest  one  of  his  which  we  possess. 
We  know  that  he  painted  for  the  convent  at 
Isenheim,  as  has  already  been  stated ;  but,  if  the 
work  he  did  there  still  exists,  it  certainly  has  not 
been  identified  as  yet. 

The  younger  Hans  Holbein  was  born  at  Augs- 
burg in  the  year  1497.  He  was  certainly  a  pupil 
of  his  father  there.  We  do  not  come  across  his 
name  in  Augsburg  documents,  however,  and  find 
him  in  1 5 1 5  at  Basle.  This  city  was  entering  a 
period  of  prosperity  just  then,  and  here  Hans 
the  younger  and  his  brother  found  plenty  to  do 
for  the  publishers,  designing  title-pages  and 
colophons  and  illustrations,  a  kind  of  work 
which  was  extremely  sought  after  at  Augsburg. 
The  table  which  Sandrart  mentions  is  an  early 
work,  executed  by  the  year  1 5 1 5  at  the  latest, 
as  were  also  a  set  of  important  pen-drawings  illus- 
trating Erasmus'  ' 4  Praise  of  Folly, "  executed  on 
the  broad  margins  of  a  copy  of  the  15 14  edition 
(now  in  the  Museum  at  Basle). 

The  following  year  Holbein  painted  his  first 


THE   TWO  HOLBEINS  195 

important  portraits  (also  in  the  Basle  Museum) 
of  Burgomaster  Meyer  and  his  wife.  Like  all 
.his  early  portraits  these  display,  as  contrasted 
with  the  work  done  in  England,  a  much  more 
luminous  and  deeper  coloration.  The  plain 
backgrounds  of  deep  blue,  or  a  vivid  dark 
green,  are  especially  noteworthy. 

In  1 517  Holbein  was  at  Luzerne,  where  he  had 
to  pay  a  fine  for  having  engaged  in  a  brawl, 
and  where  he  decorated  the  walls  of  the  Herten- 
stein  house,  within  and  without,  with  paintings. 
The  house  was  demolished  in  1824;  Holbein's 
designs,  only,  have  come  down  to  us,  and  this 
applies  to  all  his  external  mural  decorations,  of 
which  he  did  a  good  many  in  Swiss  towns.  If 
we  may  believe  a  document  sent  to  Holbein  by 
the  Council  of  Basle,  in  1538,  our  loss  has  not 
been  excessive.  In  it  they  say  "  that  his  art  and 
time  are  worth  more  than  that  they  should  be 
wasted  upon  old  walls  and  houses."  In  fact, 
though  containing  some  figure  -  painting,  this 
sort  of  mural  decoration  was  upon  the  whole 
nearer  allied  to  the  ordinary  house  decorator's 
craft  than  to  the  artist's. 

Upon  the  25th  of  September  15 19  Holbein 
joined  the  guild  at  Basle,  where  he  settled  for 
the  next  seven  years.    The  portrait  of  Bonifacius 


196    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Amerbach  at  the  Basle  Museum,  one  of  his 
best  works,  dates  from  the  beginning  of  this 
period.  For  the  Town  Hall  he  painted  a  series 
of  subjects  from  ancient  history,  now  lost.  One 
of  his  principal  occupations  was  the  designing  of 
stained-glass  windows,  which  were  greatly  in  vogue 
throughout  Switzerland. 

A  "  Last  Supper,"  with  figures  about  half  life- 
size,  shows  plainly  the  influence  of  Bernardino 
Luini,  and  in  a  more  remote  degree  of 
Leonardo  da  Vinci.  It  and  the  eight  panels 
of  the  "  Passion,"  described  by  Sandrart,  belong 
to  the  treasures  of  the  Museum  at  Basle. 
Another  important  work  of  these  earlier  years 
is  the  "  Madonna "  at  Solothurn,  painted  in 
1522.  Meanwhile  his  work  for  the  publishers 
progressed  as  before,  and  it  brought  him  in 
touch  with  the  Reformation.  The  woodcuts, 
4 'The  Sale  of  Indulgences"  and  "  Christ  the 
Lamp  of  Truth,"  are  satires  in  spirit.  He  de- 
signed the  title-page  for  the  1522  edition  of 
Luther's  New  Testament.  But,  upon  the  whole, 
his  woodcuts  illustrate  stories  from  the  Old 
Testament  in  preference  to  the  New.  His 
famous  series  of  ninety-one  Bible  designs  must 
have  been  begun  about  this  time,  though  they 
were  not  published  as  a  set  before  1538.  The 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  197 

same  exactly  applies  to  the  other  famous  set, 
"The  Dance  of  Death,"  consisting  of  originally 
forty,  and  in  its  latest  form  (1562)  fifty-eight 
woodcut  designs.  Some  of  the  alphabets  with 
studies,  or  perhaps  even  reminiscences,  of  the 
"  Dance  of  Death  "  appear  in  books  of  the  time, 
and  we  possess  a  copy  of  the  entire  set,  dated 
1527.  None  of  his  paintings  have  done  more 
to  spread  Holbein's  fame  than  these  two  wonder- 
ful series  of  black  and  white  pictures. 

In  a  book  by  Beatus  Rhenanus,  printed  in 
1526,  there  occurs  the  passage:  "Among  the 
Germans  the  most  famous  masters  of  the  day 
are — Albrecht  Durer  in  Nuremberg,  Hans  Bal- 
dung  in  Strassburg,  Lucas  Cranach  in  Saxony, 
and  Hans  Holbein  in  Switzerland,  who  was 
born  indeed  at  Augsburg,  but  has  been  a 
citizen  of  Basle  for  a  long  while  already,  and 
who  painted  our  1  Erasmus '  twice  last  year 
most  successfully  and  very  finely,  both  of  which 
portraits  were  sent  later  on  to  England."  These 
were  Holbein's  first  portraits  of  Erasmus,  one  of 
which  was  sent  by  the  humanist  to  Archbishop 
Warham  of  Canterbury.  Various  other  artists 
have  done  portraits  of  Erasmus,  but  he  lives 
in  our  mind's  eye  as  Holbein — and  Holbein 
only — painted  him. 


198    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

About  this  time  was  painted  Holbein's  chef 
(Fceuvre^  the  "  Madonna "  of  the  Burgomaster 
Meyer.  The  beauty  of  this  painting  shed  its 
lustre  upon  an  excellent  early  copy,  which  for 
many  years  was  taken  for  the  original.  This 
copy,  in  the  Dresden  Gallery,  was  esteemed 
so  highly  that  it  was  treated  as  the  Cis- 
alpine counter-piece  to  Raffaello  Santi's  "  Sistine 
Madonna."  Even  to-day,  though  it  has  been 
recognised  as  a  copy,  and  does  not,  like  the 
"  Sistine  Madonna,"  have  a  room  to  itself,  it  is 
mounted  on  a  mock  altar  somewhat  like  her. 
The  beautiful  original  was  "  re-discovered " 
about  1870  at  Darmstadt,  where  it  still  is. 

The  years  1525-6  were  filled  with  the  peasants' 
wars,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine  in  Switzer- 
land and  South  Germany.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
Holbein  decided  to  seek  his  fortune  elsewhere 
and  turned  to  England,  whither  Erasmus  had 
recommended  him  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Thomas 
More.  When  Holbein  finally  went  he  carried 
a  letter  from  Erasmus  to  Peter  Aegidius,  in 
Antwerp,  with  him.  In  it  we  read :  "  The 
bearer  is  he  who  has  portrayed  me.  By  this 
recommendation  I  don't  want  to  put  you  to 
much  trouble,  though  he  is  an  excellent  artist- 
If  he  wants  to  visit  Quentin  (Matsijs),  and  you 


(Darmstadt) 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  199 

haven't  time  to  take  him  there,  let  one  of  your 
servants  show  him  the  way  to  the  house.  The 
arts  are  freezing  hereabouts,  and  he  is  on  his  way 
to  England  to  scrape  together  a  few  angels.  You 
may  give  him  such  letters  as  you  like." 

Sandrart's  account  of  Holbein's  first  visit 
to  England  requires  scarcely  any  modification. 
Holbein's  "  Portrait  of  More,"  dated  1527,  was 
probably  the  first  work  he  finished  in  England. 
It  passed  into  the  Huth  collection.  Another 
important  portrait  of  the  early  English  period 
is  that  of  "  Thomas  Godsalve  and  his  son  John" 
(1528),  now  in  the  Dresden  Gallery,  and  a 
third,  that  of  "  Sir  Bryan  Tuke,"  in  the  Munich 
gallery.  Holbein  had  to  meet  many  rivals  when 
he  reached  England,  who  were  well  established 
in  royal  and  public  favour.  But  he  distanced 
them  all,  and  so  completely  that  their  names 
even  are  all  but  forgotten.  For  a  time,  naturally, 
ail  early  portraits  in  England  were  ascribed  to 
the  foreigner  who  had  gained  such  universal 
applause.  It  is  only  within  recent  years  that 
students  have  learned  to  discriminate  better; 
and  though  numerous  works  have  not  yet  been 
properly  ascribed  to  their  authors — for,  as  I  said, 
they  have  been  forgotten — yet  they  are  no  longer 
fathered  upon  Holbein. 


200    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Holbein  remained  only  about  two  years  in 
London,  and  returned  in  1528  to  Basle.  On 
the  29th  of  August  of  this  year  he  bought  a 
house  there.  Shortly  after,  the  iconoclasts  did 
their  villainous  work  at  Basle,  and  Holbein 
found  the  place  scarcely  in  a  better  condition 
to  forward  artistic  interests  than  when  he  left 
it.  He  painted  portraits  of  his  family,  and  new 
ones  of  Erasmus  (1530,  at  Parma;  another,  in  a 
round,  at  Basle).  In  1530  he  also  finished  his 
work  upon  the  pictorial  decoration  of  the  Town 
Hall.  But  there  was  no  chance  of  making 
his  way,  so  he  returned  to  London  early  in 
1532.  The  Council  at  Basle  thought  better 
of  it  when  it  was  too  late,  and  asked  him  to 
come  back,  offering  him  an  annuity  of  "  thirty 
pieces." 

Sir  Thomas  More  had  in  the  meanwhile  retired 
from  office,  and  Holbein's  other  patron,  Arch- 
bishop Warham,  was  dead.  But  the  German 
merchants  in  London  gave  him  a  number  of 
orders  for  portraits.  The  "  Georg  Gysze,"  now 
at  the  Berlin  Museum,  is  a  sample  of  the 
work  of  this  period,  and  further  "  Robert 
Cheseman,"  with  the  hawk  (at  the  Hague), 
and  the  splendid  large  group  in  the  National 
Gallery  at  London. 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  201 


The  German  merchants  of  the  Steele  Court 
had  splendid  decorations  put  up  for  the  occasion 
of  Henry  VIII. 's  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn, 
on  the  31st  of  May  1533,  and  Holbein  was  their 
author.  They  also  bespoke  the  two  pictures, 
"  Triumph  of  Riches  "  and  "  Triumph  of 
Poverty,"  which  Sandrart  mentions,  and  which 
have  not  been  preserved.  When  the  house  of 
the  German  merchants  broke  up,  these  pictures 
were  presented  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  came 
into  the  possession  of  Charles  I.  later  on,  and 
still  later  into  that  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel. 

Holbein  also  continued  his  woodcut  work  while 
in  England,  one  of  his  principal  designs  being 
the  title-page  for  the  Coverdale  Bible  ;  another  > 
somewhat  later,  the  piece  for  "  Hall's  Chronicle," 
showing  Henry  VIII.  among  his  Councillors.  He 
also  painted  miniatures. 

Holbein  does  not  appear  to  have  entered  the 
King's  service  before  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Anne 
Boleyn  were  both  beheaded.  Sandrart's  story  of 
More's  introduction  of  Holbein  to  Henry  VIII. 
is  apocryphal,  as  will  have  already  appeared. 
The  first  important  commission  he  got  was  for 
a  large  portrait  group  of  Henry  VIII.,  Henry 
VII.  and  Elizabeth,  his  Queen,  and  Queen  Jane 
Seymour,  for  the  palace  in  Whitehall,  which  was 


202    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

consumed  in  the  fire  1698.  In  1668  R.  van 
Leemputten  made  a  reduced  copy  of  it.  Setting 
aside  drawings  and  miniatures,  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  painted  Henry  VIII.  again. 

The  number  of  fine  portraits  in  this,  his  later 
style,  is  large.  The  "  Jane  Seymour  "  at  Vienna, 
and  the  64  Morette "  at  Dresden,  besides  others 
at  Windsor  and  in  English  private  collections, 
are  the  best  known.  The  large  set  of  portrait 
drawings  in  coloured  chalks,  at  Windsor,  were 
presumably  most  of  them  done  during  this 
period.  Ever  since  they  became  known  by 
the  fairly  good  Bartolozzi  reproductions,  they 
have  been  admired  as  among  the  finest  of 
Holbein's  achievements.  His  numerous  designs 
for  the  art-worker — designs  for  daggers,  cups, 
clocks,  goblets,  &c.  &c,  are  scarcely  less  ad- 
mirable. There  are  sketch-books  full  of  these 
at  Basle  and  London,  and  detached  sheets  else- 
where. In  them  Holbein  betrays  a  mastery 
over  the  pure  forms  of  Renaissance  decorations 
which  excels  even  that  of  Aldegrever  or  the 
Behams. 

In  1538,  when  Henry  VIII.,  or  rather  his 
Councillors,  were  looking  about  for  a  new  bride, 
Jane  Seymour  having  died  in  October  of  the 
previous  year,  Holbein  was  sent  to  Brussels  to 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  MM  W 
( From  the  painting  by  Holbein  in  the  National  Gallery) 


THE  TWO  HOLBEINS  203 

portray  Christina,  the  widow  of  Duke  Sforza 
of  Milan.  Within  three  hours  he  finished  a 
drawing  that  excited  universal  admiration,  and 
then  painted  a  portrait  which  is  now  in  the 
National  Gallery.  It  is  one  of  the  best  he  ever 
executed.  It  is  the  portrait  which  Sandrart  calls 
"  Henry  VIII.'s  favourite,  the  Princess  of  Lor- 
raine." His  comment  upon  the  lady's  unwilling- 
ness to  become  Queen  of  England  is  incorrect ; 
but  owing  to  Emperor  Charles  V.'s  decision, 
nothing  came  of  the  proposal,  though  Holbein's 
portrait  was  so  satisfactory. 

From  the  royal  accounts  it  appears  that 
Holbein  was  sent  to  the  Franche  Comte  in 
December  1538.  And  just  before  then  he  paid 
a  short  visit  to  Basle.  In  a  letter  which  R. 
Gwalther  wrote  upon  the  12th  of  September  to 
A.  Bullinger,  he  says :  "  A  short  time  since  Hans 
Holbein  came  here  from  England.  You  can 
scarcely  believe  how  highly  he  praised  the 
condition  of  affairs  existing  over  there.  He  will 
return  thither  in  a  few  weeks."  Iselin,  again, 
writes  about  him  upon  this  occasion  :  "  When  he 
visited  Basle  from  England  for  a  short  time,  he 
was  clothed  in  satin  and  silks — he  who  formerly 
had  to  buy  his  wine  at  the  tap."  Later  on  he 
says  :  "  He  died  in  England.    His  intention  was, 


204    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

if  God  had  granted  him  longer  life,  to  have  re- 
turned and  done  many  paintings  over  again  and 
better,  at  his  own  expense,  notably  those  in  the 
Town  Hall.  The  Dance  House"  (a  building 
upon  which  Holbein  had  painted  exterior  deco- 
rations), "he  said,  wasn't  half  bad."  This  dis- 
covers a  very  rare  and  admirable  trait  in  Holbein's 
character.  But  the  citizens  of  Basle  appreciated 
him,  too,  now  that  he  was  at  the  height  of  his 
fame,  and  f£ted  him. 

They  set  up  a  contract  with  him,  granting  him 
an  annuity  of  fifty  florins.  He  was  allowed  two 
years'  time  to  wind  up  his  affairs  in  England  and 
take  his  leave  from  there.  In  the  meantime  his 
wife  at  Basle  was  to  receive  forty  florins  a  year. 
He  was  allowed  to  accept  orders  from  foreign 
potentates,  and  to  travel  occasionally  abroad  with 
his  works  to  dispose  of  them  elsewhere.  But  he 
had  to  promise  to  return,  and  the  pension  died 
with  him. 

Holbein  returned  to  London  via  Paris.  In  the 
New  Year  of  1539  he  presented  the  King  with 
an  effigy  of  Prince  Edward,  and  received  a  gold 
goblet  as  counter-gift.  In  July  of  this  year  he 
was  sent,  at  great  cost,  with  Richard  Bearde  to 
Germany,  where  he  had  to  portray  Anne  of  Cleves, 


THE  TWO  HOLBE1NS  205 

and  he  took  her  a  miniature  of  Henry  VIII. 
The  portrait  does  not  show  lovely  features  ;  but 
the  King  did  not  heed  it  much,  as  it  seems, 
and  trusted  to  verbal  reports.  He  is  known  to 
have  repented  of  this  later  on.  The  portrait 
is  now  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris. 

Holbein  continued  in  Henry  VIII. 's  favour, 
and  so  he  did  not  return  to  Basle  at  the  appointed 
time.  He  painted  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  (now 
at  Windsor)  after  Cromwell's  fall,  and  the  new 
Queen,  Catherine  Howard.  All  the  many  and 
serious  vicissitudes  of  English  politics,  and  the 
changes  in  the  Royal  Household,  scarcely  affected 
him.  He  seems  to  have  had  more  leisure, 
however,  and  among  his  latest  works  are  some 
portraits  of  persons  evidently  not  connected 
with  the  Court,  and  a  self  -  portrait,  dated 
1542. 

In  the  following  year  the  plague  raged 
furiously  in  London.  Holbein  evidently  was 
carried  off.  The  very  haste  expressed  in  his 
will  speaks  for  the  conjecture.  In  the  last  will 
he  orders  all  his  things  to  be  sold,  including  his 
horse,  and  his  debts  to  be  paid.  He  names  the 
debtors.  He  leaves  a  small  annuity  to  two 
illegitimate  children  until  they  should  come  of 


206    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

age.  No  mention  is  made  of  his  wife  and  her 
four  children,  nor  of  his  property  in  Basle. 
Later  inventories  show,  however,  that  the  balance 
of  his  personal  belongings  in  England  found  their 
way  to  Basle. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


ADAM  ELSHEIMER 

"  One  of  the  most  famous  and  most  commended 
masters  of  the  noble  art  of  painting  was  Adam 
Elsheimer,  commonly  called  Adam  of  Frankfort, 
the  son  of  a  tailor,  born  next  to  the  red  Bath- 
house at  Frankfort,  in  the  year  1574.  In  con- 
sequence of  his  intense  inclination  towards  the 
art  of  painting,  he  took  to  drawing,  and  be- 
came, later  on,  the  pupil  of  Philipp  UfFenbach. 
Since  his  noble  understanding  aimed  at  greatest 
perfection  only,  he  soon  travelled  throughout 
Germany  in  order  to  reach  Rome  in  the  end, 
which  goal  he,  true  enough,  achieved.  And 
here  he  always  remained  side  by  side  with 
the  most  famous  and  most  virtuous,  of  whom 
there  were  at  this  time  several,  such  as  Pieter 
Lastman,  Jan  Pimias  of  Amsterdam,  James 
Ernest  Thomann  of  Lindau,  and  some  others, 
who  altogether  sought  to  attain  the  highest 
summit  of  perfection.    And  just  as  our  father 

Adam  was  the  first  of  all  men,  thus  this  one 

207 


208    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

was  the  (first  Adam  to  rise  in  the  art  of  painting 
small  pictures,  landscapes,  and  other  curiosities, 
so  high  and  to  such  a  likeness  to  nature,  that  he 
has  become  the  predecessor  and  father  whose 
manner  all  other  painters  of  all  parts  followed 
as  being  the  most  perfect,  the  most  select,  and 
most  natural. 

"  Among  his  best  works  a  small  '  Tobit '  on 
copper,  only  a  span  in  length,  increased  his 
fame,  upon  which  the  angel  helps  Tobit  to 
cross  a  shallow  stream,  and  the  little  dog 
jumps  from  stone  to  stone,  eager  to  follow. 
The  bright  rising  sun  shines  them  both  in  the 
face.  The  landscape  is  so  beautiful,  the  re- 
flection of  the  heaven  in  the  water  so  natural, 
the  travellers  and  the  animals  so  well  formed, 
that  so  true  a  manner  had  never  before  been 
seen ;  and,  consequently,  in  all  Rome  nothing 
was  spoken  of  but  Elsheimer's  newly  discovered 
art  of  painting.  In  the  same  manner  he  painted 
a  landscape,  somewhat  larger,  with  a  Latona  and 
her  children  twain,  whom  the  labouring  peasants 
begrudge  the  clear  water,  for  which  they  were 
transformed  into  frogs.  Moreover,  in  the  same 
size,  the  wounded  and  naked  '  Procris,'  whom 
Cephalus  labours  to  help  with  healing  herbs. 
In  the  distance,  field -goddesses,  satyrs,  fauns, 


ADAM  ELSHEIMER  209 

old  and  young,  are  depicted  making  a  fire 
before  the  woods.  No  less  full  of  art  is  his 
painting  which  shows  1  St.  Lawrence '  disrobed 
before  the  judge,  and  about  to  be  roasted  alive 
in  front  of  an  idol.  The  saint,  however,  casts  up 
his  eyes  to  heaven  with  an  indescribable  yearning. 
This  original  is  to  be  seen  now  at  Saarbriicken, 
at  the  residential  palace  of  the  high-born  Count 
of  the  realm  and  lord,  Lord  John  of  Nassau, 
along  with  many  other  rarities.  Thus  he  also 
painted  a  small  '  St  Lawrence '  for  my  cousin, 
Abraham  Mertens  of  Frankfort,  standing  dressed 
in  the  coat  of  a  Levite,  the  grill  in  one  hand, 
a  palm  in  the  other ;  but  the  background  is  a 
far-distant  mountain  range,  with  valleys,  water- 
falls, dainty  buildings,  through  all  of  which  the 
evening  sun  glows,  uncommonly  natural  and 
well  thought  out,  so  that  I  lack  words  for 
sufficient  praise  rather  than  subject  for  praise. 
This  new  manner  of  painting  in  miniature  in 
oil  having  gained  such  admiration,  he  left  off 
painting  large-sized  oil  paintings  (though  this 
was  really  the  aim  of  his  earliest  studies),  and 
remained  true  to  the  small  style. 

"He  likewise  etched  several  small  landscapes 
of    field-deities,    and    nymphs    with  cymbals, 

dancing,  for  whom  satyrs  play  music,  and  other 

o 


210    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

clever  curiosities  of  this  kind.  He  did  a  sun- 
set from  a  dark  forest,  where  one  looks  over 
distant  hills  and  valleys  to  the  horizon,  all 
wondrously  coloured ;  and,  again,  in  small  oval- 
shape,  the  '  Decapitation  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist,'  in  which  his  great  sagacity  in  devising 
the  only  true  manner  of  painting  night  appears 
to  full  advantage ;  which  was  then  praised  so 
highly,  that  it  inspired  him  to  paint  further, 
how  '  Jupiter  and  Mercury,'  fatigued  from  a 
long  journey,  enter  the  mean  peasant  cottage  of 
Baucis  and  Philemon,  where,  seated  by  lamplight, 
they  themselves  by  the  side  of  these  poor  people 
and  their  poor  possessions,  are  lighted  so  cleverly, 
that  this  and  the  following  work  are  as  good  as 
a  complete  instruction  and  manual,  from  which 
the  correct  grasping  of  night  effects  may  be 
learnt.  And  I  remember  when  I  was  young, 
and  began  to  paint  the  night,  how  I  accepted 
this  for  the  very  idea,  guide,  and  formula. 
Just  as  full  of  art  as  this  is  the  large  4  Ceres 
Drinking,'  also  a  night-piece.  She  is  standing 
near  an  old  woman  with  a  candle,  and  is  being 
mocked  by  the  villainous  boy.  This  picture 
has  rightly  been  granted  the  highest  praise  and 
renown  for  everything,  as  much  for  the  com- 
position and  invention,  as  for  the  draughtsman- 


ADAM  ELSHEIMER 


ship,  coloration,  various  beautiful  lights,  the 
landscape,  trees,  rising  and  pendent  foliage, 
leaves,  and  herbs. 

"  How  high  this  handsome  intellect  had  risen  in 
matters  of  poetry,  allusion,  invention,  and  bright 
ideas,  is  proven  by  his  biggest  work,  still  in  the  city 
of  his  birth,  which  the  honourable  Mr.  Du-Fay, 
tradesman,  showed  me  in  1666.  Therein  he 
represented  the  1  Contento '  or  '  Pleasure  '  on  a 
large  sheet  of  copper  in  the  following  manner  : 
In  the  air  there  flies  the  Contento,  or  Heart's 
Desire,  represented  by  two  graceful  figures. 
Down  below,  on  the  earth,  all  manners  of 
people,  high  and  low-born,  are  busy  with  that 
upon  which  they  are  especially  bent.  Some 
display  their  faith  in  the  gods  piously  near  a 
burning  altar,  where,  in  a  dark  temple,  an  old 
priest,  clad  in  white,  is  to  be  seen  offering 
incense  in  the  presence  of  laurel-wreathed  vestal 
virgins,  as  well  as  young  boys  (according  to 
antique  custom),  with  incense-boxes  and  other 
paraphernalia  for  the  altar  upon  which  the  offer- 
ing is  burning,  and  all  the  devout  bystanders 
are  wondrously  illumined  by  it.  In  the  fore- 
ground one  perceives  the  consecrated  beasts  led 
to  the  sacrifice.  Within  the  temple,  above,  the 
fearful  Jupiter,  with  his  glistening  thunderbolts 


2i2    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


in  his  hand,  is  about  to  descend,  showing  him- 
self well  disposed  towards  the  Contento  on 
account  of  the  sacrifice.  Without  the  temple 
people  of  all  kinds  of  callings  are  engaged,  each 
one  according  to  the  nature  of  his  longing,  in 
the  attempt  to  attain  to  dignity,  splendour, 
wealth,  and  possessions,  the  philosophers  and 
others  to  art  and  wisdom ;  some  seek  their 
gain  by  means  of  trading  and  warlike  practices, 
others  try  by  sprinting,  horse-racing,  playing, 
bowling,  and  other  means  to  reach  their  Contento, 
every  one  of  which  is  represented  after  a  special 
and  uncommon  manner,  so  that  this  very  same 
piece  is  to  be  praised  as  the  city's  greatest 
embellishment  in  the  way  of  painting. 

"  Upon  another  large  piece  he  has  represented 
the  *  Flight  into  Egypt,'  with  the  little  Christ- 
child,  which  our  Lady,  riding  on  the  ass,  has 
wrapped  close  in  her  cloak.  Joseph  leads  the  ass 
through  a  small  stream  set  about  with  bushes,  and 
he  carries  a  rushlight.  In  the  distance  one  sees 
field-herdsmen  with  their  cattle  near  a  burning 
fire,  which  is  carefully  reflected  in  the  water. 
Before  them  is  a  dense  forest,  above  which  we 
see  in  the  clear  sky  stars,  especially  the  milky 
way;  and  behind,  and  stranger  yet,  the  clear  full 
moon  rising  just  above  the  clouds  on  the  horizon. 


ADAM  ELSHEIMER  213 

All  this  being  perfectly  reflected  in  the  water, 
in  a  manner  which  has  never  been  done  before, 
produces  a  result  which  altogether,  and  in  every 
single  portion,  is  quite  incomparable.  Moreover, 
all  his  works,  of  which  there  are  but  few,  but 
those  painted  admirably  on  copper,  were  engraved 
by  Magdalene  de  Passe  and  others.  But  this 
original  Jonckheer  Gouda"  (Goudt),  "of  Utrecht, 
a  particular  amateur  of  art,  showed  me  very 
often.  And  although  he  frequently  undertook 
to  engrave  it  most  accurately  upon  copper,  he 
never  quite  attained  to  the  excellence  of  the 
original ;  as,  indeed,  it  is  not  possible  for  copper 
engraving  quite  to  equal  painting.  For  although 
this  Gouda's  engravings  excelled  others,  yet  the 
original  paintings  put  the  copper  engravings  to 
shame  when  one  places  them  side  by  side,  and, 
in  fact,  they  are  put  in  the  dark,  just  as  earthly 
light  is  put  in  the  dark  and  to  shame  by  the 
clear  sun. 

"  In  this  sagacious  manner  Elsheimer  did  his 
work,  for  his  memory  and  his  understanding 
were  so  well  trained,  that  if  he  had  only  seen 
some  beautiful  trees  (before  which  he  would 
often  sit  or  lie  for  half  a  day,  indeed,  for  whole 
days),  they  would  have  impressed  themselves 
upon  him  so  clearly  that  he  had  been  able  to 


2i4    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

paint  them  at  home  altogether  true  to  nature 
without  the  help  of  sketches ;  and  this  can 
be  gleaned  from  this  fact  among  others,  that 
after  he  had  once  impressed  in  this  manner 
the  Vigna  '  Madonna '  at  Rome  upon  his 
memory,  he  was  able  to  reproduce  it  in  his 
pictures  ever  after  most  curiously,  every  tree 
exact  after  its  kind,  recognisable  as  to  trunk, 
foliage,  leaves,  and  all  details,  in  coloration, 
shading,  and  reflected  lights.  Which  custom  is 
not  that  of  everybody,  for  it  is  very  difficult 
indeed  to  further  your  work  after  this  fashion 
without  the  presence  of  nature,  or  at  least 
sketches,  to  help  you.  In  the  end  the  diffi- 
culties of  this  manner  overstrained  him  and 
made  him  melancholy,  which  was  by  nature 
his  inclination  anyway,  and  he  husbanded  his 
affairs  badly  ;  besides,  he  married  a  Roman,  by 
whom  he  had  many  children.  Therefore  he 
drifted  into  straitened  circumstances,  although 
his  works  had  been  paid  for  dearly.  Thus  he 
became  fretful  and  ran  into  debt.  And  this 
same  Gouda  mentioned  above  had  to  tarry 
at  Rome  for  years,  suffering  losses,  on  ac- 
count of  money  that  he  had  advanced 
(Elsheimer)    for  work    not   finished,   so  that 


ADAM  ELSHEIMER  215 

Elsheimer  was  put  into  the  debtor's  prison,  where 
again  he  did  not  help  himself  out  of  his  troubles 
by  means  of  work,  as  would  have  been  no  more 
than  just  and  proper  for  him  to  do,  but  fretted 
until  he  fell  fairly  ill.  And  though  he  was 
liberated,  he  soon  thereafter  was  translated 
from  this  temporal  world  with  immortal 
praise  and  after-fame  for  his  excellence.  His 
widow,  of  whom  I  bought  a  picture,  was  still 
living  with  several  sons  at  Rome  in  1632.  For 
brevity's  sake  I  will  cease  from  all  further  praise, 
and,  to  wind  up,  merely  say  that  he  not  only 
always  undertook  difficult  tasks,  but  also  carried 
them  through  in  the  happiest  fashion.  All  his 
feats  excelled  the  very  plans  of  many  other 
artists.  He  was  so  well  founded  in  perfection 
and  in  that  which  is  good,  that  when  he  simply 
drew  a  contour  with  pen  or  crayon,  he  displayed 
therein  better  understanding  than  others  could 
after  patient  work  and  trouble.  His  works  were 
never  dependent  upon  sketchy  handling,  or 
over-elaborate  ornament  or  loud  coloration,  but 
above  all,  upon  the  most  select  draughtsman- 
ship and  true  coloration,  to  such  an  extent  that 
if  you  looked  at  his  work  in  a  looking-glass,  and 
then  turned  to  nature,  you  found  the  one  like 


216    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  other,  as  if  they  had  been  one  and  the 
same  thing. 

"  And  this  encomium  was  granted  him  through- 
out the  whole  world,  whence  it  happens  that  all 
fashionable  amateurs  and  travellers  from  afar,  in 
search  of  the  curious,  very  much  desire  and 
expect  to  see  something  rare  and  exceptional  by 
this  famous  hand  in  the  Town  Hall  of  his  birth- 
place, since  he  is  commonly  called  Adam  of 
Frankfort.  But  although  we  naturally  would 
expect  that  the  honourable  Council  of  Frankfort 
should  own  in  its  Town  Hall,  among  other 
rarities,  very  many  excellent  works  by  this  most 
commendable  one  among  all  its  subjects  (as  would 
be  no  more  than  proper,  and  as  is  everywhere 
else  the  custom,  for  example,  as  regards  Raffaello 
in  Rome,  as  regards  Michael  Angelo  in  Florence, 
as  regards  Titian  in  Venice,  Holbein  in  Basle, 
Diirer  in  Nuremberg,  Lucas  van  Leiden  in  Leiden), 
and  whereas  other  cities  make  not  a  little  show  in 
their  Town  Halls  of  the  work  of  their  citizens, 
showing  them  to  strangers  and  travellers  as 
objects  of  particular  value,  yet  at  Frankfort  not 
the  slightest  thing  (by  Elsheimer)  is  to  be  seen 
at  the  Town  Hall,  nor  is  his  name  even  re- 
membered, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  have 


ADAM  ELSHEIMER  217 

been  plenty  of  means  and  opportunities  to  attend 
to  this  formerly  as  well  as  to-day.  However,  in 
spite  of  this,  the  fame  of  this  praiseworthy  artist 
will  not  die  out,  and  it  will  be  said  of  him — 

"  1  As  long  as  virtue  will  be  loved, 
As  long  as  Fine  Arts  will  be  proved, 
So  long  the  world  will  ever  strive 
To  keep  Elsheimer's  fame  alive.'" 


CHAPTER  IX 


ANTON   RAPHAEL  MENGS 

The  great  wave  of  art  which  had  flooded  Ger- 
many at  the  beginning  of  the  Renaissance  had 
spent  its  force  by  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  After  that  a  lull  had  set  in,  and  by 
the  time  a  renewed  uprisal  was  due,  national  mis- 
fortunes had  intervened  to  counteract  it.  The 
Thirty  Years  War  prevented  the  return  of  a  period 
of  brilliancy,  which  would  probably  have  come, 
if  we  may  judge  by  the  circumstance  that  such 
periods  generally  revert  to  nations  at  regular 
intervals  of  about  a  century.  For  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  the  story  of  German  art 
remained  almost  a  blank.  It  sounds  like  a 
paradox,  but  one  might  really  express  it  thus : 
The  artist  did  not  die  out,  but  art  did.  When 
it  comes  to  the  matter  of  gleaning  the  great 
masters  of  the  world's  history  of  art,  even  such 
a  painter  as  Elsheimer  distinctly  belongs  to  the 
aftermath. 

It  is  a  strange  anomaly,  however,  that  the 

artists  who  did  work  within  this  long  period  did 

218 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  219 

not  fail  to  call  forth  the  unbounded  enthusiasm 
of  their  contemporaries,  let  posterity  rank  them 
ever  so  low.  The  less  important  a  painter  was, 
it  seems,  the  higher  his  praises  have  been  sung. 
Sandrart  himself  was  lauded  more  extravagantly 
than  he  ever  praised  the  most  important  among 
all  the  artists  about  whom  he  wrote,  and  he 
believed  that  his  own  painting  improved  upon 
all  of  that  of  the  old  masters. 

Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  Mengs,  who 
is  to-day  all  but  forgotten.  The  biography  by 
Bianconi,  one  of  his  best  friends,  is  only  one  of 
several,  all  of  which  may  be  styled  eulogies  rather 
than  biographies.  They  are  interesting,  if  for 
no  other  reason,  for  this  one  alone,  that  they 
show  how  wide  contemporary  criticism  can  occa- 
sionally miss  the  mark.  In  adding  to  our  volume 
a  chapter  on  Mengs  drawn  from  a  contem- 
porary source,  in  accordance  with  the  general 
plan  of  the  book,  it  was  necessary  to  warn  the 
reader  thus  much,  lest  he  should  be  confused 
by  the  elated  tone  of  the  pamphlet  from  which 
the  following  extracts  have  been  translated  1 : — 

"  I  propose  to  treat  of  the  most  noteworthy 

1  Prange's  annotations  to  Bianconi's  "  Life  "  have  been  added, 
for  the  most  part,  since  they  not  only  supplement  but  often 
correct  the  present  author. 


220    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

painter  of  our  century,  a  scholar  and  a  philo- 
sopher, of  the  Cavaliere  Anton  Raphael  Mengs, 
and  will  commence  at  the  very  beginning  with 
his  bringing  up,  which  was  as  singular  as  the 
fruits  thereof  were  unique.  When  great  men 
are  discussed,  even  the  minor  details  of  life  wax 
important.  Thus  I  shall  be  readily  pardoned  for 
going  into  matters  more  at  length ;  and,  besides, 
you  may  put  down  some  of  it  to  the  score  of  a 
long  and  tender  friendship,  which  bound  me  to 
him  when  both  of  us  were  still  young,  in  Saxony, 
and  since  then  for  ever  in  Italy. 

"  The  pestilence  which  all  but  depopulated 
Copenhagen,  the  Danish  capital,  at  the  beginning 
of  this  century,  spared  the  life  of  Ismael  Mengs 
alone  out  of  twenty-three  brothers  and  sisters. 
He  had  devoted  himself  from  youth  up  to  paint- 
ing, more  particularly  to  enamel-painting,  and 
now  left  his  sorrowful  home  to  try  his  fortunes 
in  Saxony,  which  was  then  ruled  by  August  II., 
King  of  Poland,  a  prince  famous  for  his  good 
parts,  his  magnanimity,  and  his  love  of  the  fine 
arts.  Ismael  entered  the  service  of  the  King, 
who  employed  him  principally  as  painter  in 
enamels,  and  to  this  day  many  incomparable  works 
by  his  hand  are  to  be  seen  in  the  treasury  of  the 
Saxon  House  at  Dresden.     His  character  was 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  221 


very  likely  quite  unique.  Imagine  to  yourself  a 
tall,  not  exactly  ugly,  but  very  dark  complexioned 
and  colourless  man,  disposed  to  melancholy,  but 
otherwise  righteous  enough,  a  man  of  few  words, 
though  when  he  would  talk  he  could  do  it  better 
than  most  people.  He  played  excellently  on  the 
flute,  and  always  drank  the  very  best  beer  that 
was  ever  brewed  throughout  the  whole  land  ; 
these  two  things  were  his  sole  delights.  Fre- 
quently he  contemplated  the  King's  pictures,  and 
whenever  the  Court  Theatre  was  in  season  he 
would  go  there  to  hear  operas,  which  were  at  that 
time  to  be  seen  beyond  all  comparison  at  Dresden, 
day  after  day.  Never  has  any  one  seen  him  con- 
versing with  his  neighbour  there,  nor  exhibiting 
any  tokens  of  satisfaction,  nor  applauding.  Since 
he  was  of  Danish  birth,  one  would  have  taken 
him  for  a  Lutheran  ;  but  it  remained  an  open 
question  whether  indeed  he  was  one,  for  he  never 
went  to  church. 

"About  the  year  1720  he  married  Charlotte 
Bormann  of  Zittau,1  a  Lusatian  town,  and  lived 
with  her  a  quiet,  retired  life.  She  presently  bore 
him  a  son,  Charles  Morris,  and  then  a  daughter, 
Theresa  Concordia.    In  1728  he  went  overland 

1  This  is  a  mistake.  Ismael  did  not  marry  her  until  after 
Anton  Raphael's  birth,  and  then  legitimised  his  offspring. 


222    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


in  summer  time  to  Aussig,  a  little,  sorry  town 
in  Bohemia,  near  the  Saxon  boundary.  There, 
upon  the  twelfth  of  March,  Charlotte  bore  him 
a  second  son,  whom  he  christened  Anton  Raphael, 
out  of  admiration  for  Correggio  and  Raffaello 
Santi.1  Some  time  after,  the  fourth  and  last  child, 
Julia,  was  born. 

"  As  soon  as  ever  these  four  children  were  able 
to  hold  crayons  in  their  little  hands,  the  sober 
father  kept  them  at  drawing.  Charlotte  died  and 
left  the  bringing  up  of  this  budding  talent  to 
Ismael  and  a  maidservant.  His  house  lay  in  a 
remote  part  of  the  town,  and  it  might  well  have 
been  called  an  academy-school  for  these  four 
little  children,  over  whom  the  sullen  father  pre- 
sided as  president  and  master,  with  a  rod  in  one 
hand  and  a  pencil  in  the  other." 

The  elder  son  soon  grew  tired  of  this  joyless 
life,  departed  from  his  fatherly  home,  went  to 
Bohemia,  turned  Catholic,  and  devoted  himself  to 

1  Ismael,  one  of  the  queerest  men  that  ever  lived,  took  it 
into  his  head  to  beget  a  son  who  should  combine  the  talents  of 
Raffaello  Santi  and  Antonio  Allegri  (Correggio).  From  his 
first  years  on,  Ismael  saw  to  it  that  Anton  Raphael  should  fulfil 
his  destiny.  He  generally  kept  all  his  affairs  quite  in  the  dark, 
but  to  a  friend,  Bottcher,  fine-art  dealer  at  Leipsic,  he  confided 
his  intentions  as  regarded  the  child,  and  that  he  was  to  draw  like 
Raffael  and  use  his  colours  like  Allegri.  When  Bottcher  spoke 
of  the  uncertainty  of  a  future  so  far  removed,  Ismael  said  :  "  He 
shall  and  must ! " 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  223 

scientific  studies  as  well  as  his  straitened  circum- 
stances allowed.  The  father  did  not  move  a 
finger  to  recover  this  son  ;  he  only  distributed 
his  share  of  the  flogging  equally  among  the  three 
children  that  remained  at  home.1  These  intimi- 
dated children,  accordingly,  learned  the  art  of 
drawing  from  their  silent  father,  and  reading  and 
writing  from  their  garrulous  maidservant.  They 
never  left  the  house  except  in  company  of  Ismael, 
and  then  only  at  night  to  get  some  fresh  air  for  a 
few  moments,  and  their  most  interesting  walks 
never  took  them  beyond  the  alleys  of  the  so- 
called  New  Town  (Neustadt)  or  along  the  sandy 
banks  of  the  Elbe.  Nights  with  a  bright  moon 
shining  in  the  sky  were  grand  treats  for  these 
poor  children.  Some  maintain  that  they  did  not 
even  know  the  name  of  the  town  in  which,  and 
the  name  of  the  ruler  under  whom,  they  lived. 
What  their  religion  was  probably  none  of  them 
knew,  for  their  father  never  honoured  them  so 
much  as  to  tell  them,  much  less  did  he  ever 
take  them  to  church. 

In  the  year  1741,  when  Anton  Raphael  was  in 
his  thirteenth  year,  Ismael  decided  to  visit  Rome 

1  It  is  reported  that  the  youngest  child,  Julia,  broke  both 
legs  one  day  by  jumping  out  of  a  second-story  window  in  a 
desperate  attempt  to  escape  the  blows  of  the  tyrannical 
teacher. 


224    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

with  his  entire  family,  to  broaden  their  ideas,  as 
he  said,  and  to  acquaint  them  at  this  place  with 
the  work  of  Raffaello  Santi,  who  had  ever  been 
his  idol.1  August  III.,  who  had  by  that  time 
come  to  the  throne,  was  as  bounteous  as  his 
father  had  been,  and  granted  Mengs  the  neces- 
sary three  years'  leave  of  absence.  Thus  Ismael 
left  Dresden  with  his  servant  and  the  three 
children,  who  were  quite  unable  to  comprehend 
the  innovation,  and  who  did  not  know  to  what 
part  of  the  world  they  were  being  led.  At  Rome, 
at  length,  Ismael  became  somewhat  more  com- 
municative, and  showed  them  the  "Loggie"  and 
"  Camere "  of  Raffaello,  and  the  ceiling  in  the 
Sistine  Chapel  by  Michelangelo.2  They  spent 
three  years  here,  living  close  by  St.  Peter's 
Church.  Young  Anton  Raphael  was  incessantly 
engaged  in  drawing  from  Raffaello,  or  from  the 
antique  and  the  nude  model,  or   studying  in 

1  Mengs  was  drawing  an  arm  from  a  cast.  Old  Ismael, 
watching  him  through  a  hole  in  the  door,  noticed  that  he  bared 
his  own  arm  and  looked  at  it,  in  order  to  find  things  which  the 
cast  did  not  seem  to  show  properly.  "  Now,"  exclaimed  Ismael, 
"  the  time  has  come  for  me  to  take  you  to  Rome  ;  you  are  ripe 
for  it." 

2  Ismael  divided  up  his  son's  working  day  thus  —  he  had 
to  rise  early,  breakfast,  and  go  to  the  Vatican  to  draw  after 
Raffaello's  paintings.  He  spent  the  whole  day  in  the  Vatican} 
eating  nothing  but  a  piece  of  bread  and  some  fruit.  To  speak 
accurately,  he  did  not  begin  to  copy  Raffaello  before  he  had 
studied  Michelangelo  and  the  antique  thoroughly,  thus  pro- 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  225 


the  workshop  of  the  famous  painter,  Benefiale. 
The  women-folk  painted  miniatures  at  home 
under  Ismael's  direction.  For  the  Romans  it 
was  a  constant  source  of  delight  to  see  the  quiet, 
modest  little  Germans  doing  such  excellent  work 
at  such  an  early  time  of  life. 

They  returned  in  1744,  treasuring  a  store  of 
knowledge ;  but  the  old  system  of  education 
recommenced  straightway.  The  children  were 
again  kept  indoors,  like  hermits.  The  King  him- 
self, and  all  Dresden,  did  not  even  know  that 
Ismael  had  a  family.  However,  love  of  painting 
and  of  music  presently  effected  a  change.  One 
day  Ismael  Mengs  happened  to  go  to  the  house 
of  De  Silvestre,  a  Parisian,  at  that  time  principal 
painter-in-ordinary  to  the  King,  where  he  beheld 
not  only  the  beautiful  work  of  this  excellent 
master,  but  also  one  of  his  well-mannered 
daughters,  who  was  singing  in  Italian,  with  a 

ceeding  on  the  same  path  which  Raffaello  himself  had  trod.  In 
the  evening  Anton  Raphael  drew  from  casts  and  from  nature, 
under  Sebastiano  Conca,  by  lamplight  for  one  hour.  Then 
came  supper,  of  which  there  was  always  good  and  plenty. 
There  followed  half-an-hour  of  work  at  perspective  and  anatomy, 
and  then  he  went  to  bed.  No  doubt  it  was  this  excessive 
application  which  weakened  his  constitution  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  poor  state  of  his  health  in  later  years.  Consider 
also  the  severity  of  the  treatment  which  he  received  at  the 
hands  of  Ismael,  who  caned  him  for  the  commission  of  the 
slightest  faults. 

P 


226    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

good  grace.  In  this  house,  of  an  evening,  the 
best  of  Court  society  and  all  foreign  ambassadors 
were  wont  to  assemble  ;  it  was  the  exact  counter- 
part of  Meng's  own  home,  one  unceasing  course 
of  joy  and  pleasure.  Among  the  guests  there 
was  also  one,  Signor  Domenico  Annibali,  a  court 
musician,  an  exquisite  singer,  and  a  man  of  the 
best  and  most  captivating  manners.  On  account 
of  his  amiability  he  was  highly  esteemed  every- 
where ;  he,  in  company  with  the  famous  John 
Adolph  Hasse,  reigned  supreme  over  the  Italian 
stage  in  Saxony.  It  was  his  voice  which  alone 
found  a  way  to  Ismael's  inaccessible  heart. 
Somebody  at  Rome  had  written  to  him  that 
Ismael  was  the  father  of  three  children,  all  of 
whom  were  perfect  prodigies  in  painting.  He 
communicated  the  fact  to  a  good  friend  of  his, 
Father  Guerini,  a  Jesuit  of  the  Ducal  House 
of  Bulciardo,  and  one  of  Augustus  III.'s  in- 
timates. 

One  day  Annibali  sang  a  touching  air  at 
Silvestre's  house,  which  gained  general  approba- 
tion. Ismael  was  present  at  the  time.  Ismael's 
heart  was  mightily  touched,  and  for  the  first 
time  he  opened  his  mouth  and  begged,  in  his 
way,  the  singer  for  a  repetition  of  the  air. 
"  Gladly,"  replied  the  cunning  Annibali,  "  if  you 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  227 

will  allow  me,  by  way  of  return  favour,  to  visit  you 
at  your  house  to-morrow,  and  become  acquainted 
with  your  estimable  family."  All  of  the  company 
laughed  ;  Ismael  was  very  much  distressed,  but, 
rubbing  his  forehead,  said  :  "  Sing  well  to-night, 
and  then  I  will  expect  you  to-morrow.  But  you 
must  come  alone  ;  I  do  not  want  any  of  this 
laced  and  gilt  canaille."  There  you  have  a 
little  sample  of  Ismael's  phraseology  !  Annibali 
sang ;  Ismael  was  moved  even  unto  tears,  and 
then  ran  off,  tottering,  without  taking  leave  of 
anybody.  From  this  moment  on,  Ismael,  rough 
as  he  was,  could  no  longer  resist  Annibali,  who, 
like  Orpheus,  began  henceforth  to  lead  this 
Danish  Rhadamanthus  according  to  his  will. 
On  the  following  morning  he  went  to  Mengs' 
house. 

After  a  free  exchange  of  compliments  he  was 
shown  into  a  room,  wherein  he  perceived  a  few 
split-bottom  chairs  and  a  table  upon  which  there 
were,  tea,  a  pipe,  a  beer-mug,  a  large  open  German 
Bible,  a  cat-o'-nine-tails,  and  some  leather  straps 
of  peculiar  invention.  In  the  second  chamber 
he  saw  two  girls,  plainly  dressed,  sitting  at  a  table 
and  painting  miniatures.  At  another  table  there 
was  seated  a  youth  of  about  sixteen  years,  with 
long  hair  falling  down  upon  his  shoulders,  busy 


228    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

at  work  upon  some  sort  of  painting  or  other. 
None  of  these  academicians,  wrapt  up  in  their 
work,  dared  to  raise  their  eyes  in  order  to  see 
who,  contrary  to  custom,  had  stepped  into  the 
room  to  break  in  upon  their  never-ending  silence. 
The  stranger  saluted,  but  no  one  of  them  dared 
to  return  the  greeting  before  the  father's  per- 
mission had  been  given.  Annibali  saw  various 
fine  pastel  paintings  hanging  upon  the  walls, 
among  them  two  portraits  from  the  life,  one  of 
which  represented  Ismael,  the  other  the  youth 
who  was  at  work  now  in  the  room.  He  was 
informed  by  the  father  that  they  were  the  work 
of  the  young  lad  in  the  room.  Quite  beside 
himself  with  astonishment,  he  inquired  of  the 
youth  only  half  in  earnest,  whether  he  would 
have  ventured  to  portray  him  (Annibali)  in  the 
same  manner.  The  young  man  stared  him  in 
the  face,  and  replied:  "Why  not,  if  my  father 
had  commanded  me  to  do  it  ? "  "  Indeed,  I 
should  like  it  very  much,"  Ismael  put  in  ;  "  for, 
ever  since  yesternight,  I  can  refuse  Signor  Anni- 
bali nothing. "  "  And  when  could  you  do  it  ?  " 
"  That  depends  upon  my  father."  "  Do  you 
want  it  done  right  away?"  Ismael  asked.  "I 
should  like  that,  above  all  things,"  Annibali 
rejoined.    Thereupon  the  father  fetched  a  sheet 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  229 

of  blue  paper,  gave  it  to  Anton  Raphael,  and  left 
them,  locking  the  door  behind  him.  The  young 
man  commenced  to  paint  at  once  ;  and  during  the 
whole  time  the  daughters  did  not  utter  a  sound, 
riveting  their  eyes  uninterruptedly  upon  their 
work.  After  about  an  hour's  time,  Ismael 
peeped  in  at  the  door  and  asked  whether  he 
might  come  in.  "  Yes,"  was  the  son's  answer  ; 
for  you  must  know,  that  the  father  never  wanted 
to  see  him  at  work — he  only  looked  at  the  work 
when  it  was  finished.  He  entered,  looked  at  the 
painting,  and  showed  it  to  Annibali,  who  did  not 
know  what  most  to  admire,  its  beauty,  the  great 
likeness,  or  the  speed  with  which  it  had  been 
done. 

Immediately  Ismael  came  back  with  a  Bible 
and  wanted  Annibali  to  swear  that  he  would 
never  reveal  by  whom  the  portrait  had  been 
painted.  But  he  said  he  would  rather  die  than 
not  say  anything  to  Father  Guerini  about  it. 
Therefore  he  tried  to  get  around  the  oath  as  best 
he  could,  and  managed  to  silence  Ismael  in  the 
end,  who  took  away  his  Bible,  somewhat  con- 
fused. Next  day  the  picture  was  finished  with 
like  rapidity,  and  then  glazed  and  framed. 

Father  Guerini  informed  the  King,  much  to 
his   surprise,  that  Annibali    had    discovered  a 


230    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

family  in  Mengs'  house,  whom  nobody  had  ever 
heard  of,  and  he  was  full  of  wonder  when  he 
was  assured  that  the  son,  in  spite  of  his  being 
so  young,  was  perhaps  as  good  an  artist  as  the 
father  himself.  Whoever  has  had  the  honour 
to  see  kings  at  close  quarters  will  know  that 
they  are  often  condescending,  inquisitive,  and 
impatient.  The  King,  accordingly,  commanded 
the  portrait  to  be  brought  at  once  in  his  presence, 
which  the  youth  had  painted  of  his  discoverer 
or  liberator,  I  am  at  a  loss  which  best  to  call  him. 
A  lackey  rushed  at  once  to  Mengs'  house,  de- 
manding the  portrait  in  Annibali's  name.  Ismael 
lost  his  temper,  rebuffed  the  lackey,  called  him 
names  and  accused  him  of  lying,  and  they  were 
just  on  the  point  of  coming  to  blows,  when  the 
lackey,  pronouncing  the  name  of  his  Majesty, 
wrested  the  picture  from  Ismael,  and  departed  with 
it.  Ismael,  half-dazed,  looked  after  him  through 
the  window,  and  sent  a  thousand  imprecations 
after  him.  A  few  moments  later  Annibali,  quite 
unconscious  of  the  whole  transaction,  sauntered 
in.  One  may  well  imagine  what  sort  of  words 
the  two  had  together.  The  poor  innocent  chil- 
dren cried  and  trembled  when  they  heard  the 
row  that  was  going  on. 

The  picture  came  into  the  palace,  and  it  was 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  231 

not  otherwise  than  if  Annibali  himself  had  come, 
the  likeness  was  so  great.  The  King  recognised 
its  value  at  once  and  had  it  placed  in  his  cabinet, 
where  it  remained  thereafter.  He  ordered  his 
Prime  Minister  to  bid  Annibali  present  this 
new  artist  at  Court,  who,  in  the  dawn  of  his 
days,  had  attained  to  a  degree  of  perfection 
which  few  barely  reach  in  their  zenith.  He 
wanted  to  see  the  whole  family  upon  this 
occasion.  It  was  necessary  to  reclothe  them 
with  the  greatest  possible  speed,  for  they  had 
no  garments  but  those  they  wore  in  the  house. 
And  this  was  the  first  time  the  two  daughters 
ever  had  their  hair  dressed  d  la  mode,  and  were 
besprinkled  with  scented  powder. 

The  King,  a  great  connoisseur  of  painting, 
received  them  very  graciously,  assuming  the  air 
of  a  distinguished  artist  rather  than  that  of  a 
sovereign.  He  conversed  with  them  about  art, 
and  learned  that  the  daughters  painted  minia- 
tures. He  dismissed  them  with  the  command 
that  Anton  Raphael  was  to  return  upon  the 
following  day  and  bring  his  box  of  paints  along, 
which  he  wanted  to  see,  as  being  quite  enamoured 
of  his  style  of  coloration.  The  youth  appeared 
with  his  father  at  the  appointed  hour.  But 
what  was  his  confusion,  when  he  was  told  to 


232    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

begin  upon  the  King's  portrait  in  pastels  right 
off-hand.  "  If  you  could  paint  Annibali  thus, 
without  any  warning,  you  will  be  able  to  do 
me  just  as  well,"  Augustus  said. 

The  youth,  bowing  profoundly,  and  laying 
aside  all  bewilderment,  began  upon  the  King's 
portrait  en  face.  Every  one  knows  how  difficult 
this  pose  is,  especially  in  the  case  of  a  face  with 
regular  features,  and  Augustus  III.  was  beyond 
a  doubt  one  of  the  most  handsome  men  in  all 
Europe.  Anton  Raphael  had  not  been  at  work 
quite  two  hours,  when  the  Queen,  the  Crown 
Prince  and  Princess,  Prime  Minister  Count 
Bruhl,  and  Father  Guerini  entered,  all  of  whom 
were  full  of  amazement.  After  the  third  sitting 
the  portrait  had  reached  that  state  of  perfection 
for  which  we  are  wont  to  admire  it  to  this  day ; 
it  is  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  among  all  the 
pastel  paintings  by  our  artist.  He  received  at 
once  a  gift  of  one  hundred  pistoles  and  letters 
patent  for  an  annual  pension  of  600  dollars. 
The  King  demanded  to  be  shown  some  of  the 
miniatures  by  the  sisters,  and  they,  too,  were 
granted  300  dollars  annually  apiece,  by  way  of 
encouragement  and  to  make  them  proud  of  being 
the  sisters  of  this  budding  Saxon  Apelles.  Our 
Anton  Raphael  could  not  believe  that  his  industry 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  233 

(which  lightened  his  work  for  him),  could  have 
ever  earned  so  much.  At  the  Court,  the  newly 
discovered  family  were  the  sole  talk  of  the  day. 
Connoisseurs  declared  Mengs'  works  to  be  beauti- 
ful because,  indeed,  they  were  so.  But  flatterers 
discussed  them  with  rapture,  because  they  pleased 
the  King. 

His  Majesty  had  been  informed  that  Ismael 
possessed  other  pastel  pictures  by  his  son  at 
home.  He  commanded  them  to  be  fetched, 
paid  handsomely  for  them,  and  had  them  placed 
in  his  cabinet,  where  the  pictures  by  Rosalba 
Camera  hung.  Among  them  is  his  own  portrait, 
as  he  looked  when  the  unsparing  rod  of  his 
father  hung  over  him,  with  long  hair  to  his 
shoulders  and  a  melancholy  mien. 

Anton  Raphael  was  right  well  pleased  with 
so  good  a  beginning,  and  he  now,  at  the 
command  of  the  King,  frequented  with  his 
father  the  Royal  Picture  Gallery,  the  finest 
treasure-house  in  all  Europe,  as  is  well  known. 
He  looked  upon  the  paintings  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  philosopher  and  the  artist  at 
once,  and  the  great  magnificent  works  elicited 
his  admiration.  Hundreds  of  times  he  repeated 
to  me,  with  great  satisfaction,  that  after  he  had 
contemplated  Titian,  the  Carracci,  Guido  Reni, 


234    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  many  others,  he  finally  had  stepped  up  to 
Correggio,  had  kissed  him  and  had  whispered 
in  his  ear,  as  it  were,  ' 'You  alone  please  me!" 
At  that  time  the  beautiful  Raffaello  had  not 
yet  arrived  from  Piacenza. 

Disingenuous  courtiers  praised  Mengs  to  the 
King  in  a  manner  which  implied  that  though 
he  was  the  best  of  pastel  painters,  yet  this 
phase  of  art  demanded  little  of  draughtsman- 
ship, and  that  Mengs  was  in  nowise  equal  to 
the  greater  exigencies  of  oil  painting.  Anton 
Raphael  felt  the  sting  in  their  false  praise,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  strongest  desire  of  pro- 
gressing in  his  own  art.  He  therefore  begged 
Annibali,  who  had  in  the  meantime  assumed 
the  rtle  of  a  protector  over  him,  to  obtain  of 
the  King  through  Father  Guerini  the  permit  to 
travel  to  Rome,  which  he  maintained  to  be  the 
only  country  where  one  could  learn  how  to 
paint.  This  permission  was  obtained  without 
any  difficulty,  and  so  our  artist  left  for  Italy 
in  the  year  1746  with  his  father,  the  maid- 
servant, and  his  sisters.  They  first  went  to 
Parma,  to  pay  a  visit,  as  it  were,  to  Correggio 
at  his  own  home,  then  to  Venice  to  honour 
Titian.  After  Ferrara  and  Bologna  he  arrived 
enthused  rather  than  encouraged  at  Rome,  this 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  235 

main  foster-mother  of  the  fine  arts,  with  the 
firm  intention  of  leaving  it  either  not  at  all 
or  as  a  painter. 

Correggio  and  Titian  in  his  heart,  he  locked 
himself  up  in  the  Vatican,  where  RafFaello  had 
breathed  his  divine  soul  upon  the  walls.  He 
began  to  study  him  and  to  paint  in  his  style 
rather  than  to  copy  him.  His  first  attempt  in 
oil  was  a  half-length  of  a  "  Magdalen  "  and  the 
portrait  of  his  father ;  both  in  his  old  manner. 
It  occurred  to  him  to  paint  a  "  Holy  Family  " 
in  Raffaello's  style  and  send  it  to  the  King,  for 
the  benefit  of  those  kind  friends  who  maintained 
that  he  could  never  proceed  beyond  pastel  paint- 
ing. But  he  lacked  a  fitting  model  for  the 
head  of  the  Madonna.  The  home  of  the 
Lirias,  Poppaeas,  Julias,  and  Faustinas  provides 
to  this  day  beauties  enough.  But  every  style 
of  beauty  does  not  suit  a  Madonna,  and  he 
wanted  very  much  to  work  from  nature.  One 
day  he  met  on  the  street  a  very  handsome, 
young  and  modest,  but  poor  girl.  He  halted 
and  exclaimed  :  "  This  is  the  Madonna  I  am 
looking  for !  "  Mengs'  rare  modesty  really 
required  no  guardian ;  yet  the  young  girl  never 
sat  for  him  except  in  the  presence  of  some 
sensible  and  virtuous  relative.    Anton  Raphael 


236    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  she  fell  in  love  with  one  another,  and 
began  to  consider  marriage,  to  which  Ismael, 
who  had  in  the  mean  time  become  somewhat 
more  humane,  gave  his  consent.  Not  so  the 
girl's  father,  who  would  not  think  of  bestowing 
his  daughter  upon  a  Protestant.  It  was  thus 
that  Anton  Raphael  came  to  embrace  the 
Catholic  faith.  His  sisters,  who  sanctioned  and 
revered  blindly  everything  that  their  brother 
did  and  thought,  followed  him  in  this  step. 
But  the  very  thought  of  communicating  their 
intention  to  their  father  made  them  tremble. 
Contrary  to  expectation,  however,  he  raised  no 
objection,  as  long  as  they  continued,  he  said, 
to  paint  well  and  industriously.  On  the  16th 
of  July  1749,  they  joined  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  a  few  weeks  later  Anton  Raphael  was 
joined  in  wedlock  to  Margaret  Guazzi,  for 
that  was  the  name  of  the  beautiful  and  modest 
girl.  This  was  the  first  time  that  unrestrained 
and  hearty  merriment  ever  reigned  in  Ismael 
Mengs'  house. 

After  an  absence  of  somewhat  over  three 
years,  Ismael  returned  to  Dresden  with  his 
entire  family.  Annibali,  who  had  been  present 
at  our  painter's  wedding,  had  preceded  them  in 
1749,  and  had  informed  the  King  of  the  changes 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  237 

that  had  occurred  in  the  Mengs  establishment. 
Ismael,  too,  had  turned  Catholic ;  he  said,  in 
a  well-conditioned  family  there  should  be  no 
difference  of  opinions,  and  he  wanted  no  schism 
in  his.  Only  the  maidservant  remained  stubborn 
and  true  to  her  old  faith. 

When  the  King,  to  whom  Anton  Raphael 
had  presented  his  w  Holy  Family,"  saw  what 
great  progress  our  painter  had  achieved,  he 
commissioned  him  to  paint  his  and  the  Queen's 
portrait  in  oils,  two  full-lengths  in  regal  attire. 
This  circumstance  caused  Silvestre,  who  had  just 
finished  a  similar  pair,  to  retire  to  France. 

About  this  time  the  fine  Catholic  church, 
planned  by  Gaetano  Chiaveri,  was  nearing  com- 
pletion, when  somehow  or  other  the  report  was 
spread  that  the  roof  and  ceiling  were  in  danger 
of  caving  in.  The  architect  staked  his  head 
that  the  rumour  was  all  false,  but  his  enemies 
barred  him  the  way  to  the  ear  of  the  King. 
Anton  Raphael  pitied  the  poor  architect,  now 
almost  quite  deserted.  He  ventured  with  his 
father  several  times  into  the  huge  pile,  and 
examining  it  closely,  soon  discovered  how  super- 
fluous every  kind  of  fear  was,  and  how  malignant 
those  who  had  spread  the  report  were.  While 
he  was  painting  the  King  he  had  the  courage 


238    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

to  lead  up  to  the  subject  and  speak  his  opinion 
openly.  The  King  then  gave  strict  orders  for 
a  thorough  investigation  to  be  made,  with  the 
result  that  it  appeared  there  was  no  danger. 
The  deserving  architect  fell  upon  the  noble 
young  artist's  neck,  and  publicly  called  him  his 
liberator,  his  father !  Building  was  resumed, 
and  the  walls  which  a  short  while  ago  people 
hesitated  to  lean  up  against,  now  swarmed  with 
workmen,  who  in  a  few  months'  time  finished 
this  royal  structure. 

The  King  was  eager  to  consecrate  his  church. 
But  there  were  still  three  altar-pieces  wanting. 
The  painting  of  them  was  entrusted  to  Mengs. 
This,  however,  was  more  properly  the  work  of 
as  many  years  as  Mengs  was  granted  weeks. 
To  comply  with  the  Queen's  request,  who,  in 
her  turn,  wanted  to  humour  the  King,  Mengs 
had  to  finish  the  two  side  altars,  a  "  Conception 
of  the  Virgin  "  and  "  St.  Joseph  Asleep,"  within 
a  couple  of  weeks.  The  main  altar  was  occupied 
by  a  provisory  painting  in  water-colours  until 
Mengs  should  have  completed  his  oil-painting. 
The  church  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity  was 
consecrated  in  the  year  1752  by  Monsignore 
Alberico  Archinto.  Chiaveri  had  provided  most 
ingeniously  and  excellently  for   all    the  many 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  239 

special  uses  that  this  church  was  put  to,  and 
its  sole  deficiency  is  that  the  nave  was  not 
decorated  by  a  painting  of  Mengs.  This,  the 
intention  of  the  King,  was  frustrated  by  the 
misfortunes  which  at  that  time  befell  Germany. 
But  Anton  Raphael,  in  spite  of  his  being  only 
twenty-three  years  old,  and  having  no  cabal  or 
mistress  to  further  his  interests  at  Court,  was 
appointed  first  painter-in-ordinary  to  the  King, 
and  his  pension  raised  to  1000  dollars  a  year. 

It  seemed  as  if  he  was  to  be  most  envied, 
and  yet  fate  had  prepared  peculiar  sufferings 
for  him.  Ismael  had  assumed  the  role  of 
general  treasurer,  and  collected  the  income  of 
the  whole  family,  which  amounted  to  about 
2200  dollars  now.  But  he  was  very  close 
when  it  came  to  administering  to  the  wants 
of  his  children,  and  especially  to  his  daughter- 
in-law,  who  was  accustomed  to  the  comfortable 
manner  of  living  at  Rome.  The  reasonings  of 
Anton  Raphael  were  of  no  avail,  and  home  life 
was  extremely  dissatisfactory,  especially  as  the 
old  maidservant  had  likewise  grown  overbearing. 
Ismael  made  great  demands  upon  his  children 
in  return  for  the  education  they  had  received, 
and  in  order  to  keep  up  peace  they  allowed 
him  to  retain  all  the  money  that  they  received 


240    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

in  payment  for  work  executed,  and  claimed 
only  the  amount  of  their  pensions  for  them- 
selves. All  these  and  further  domestic  dif- 
ferences bore  down  heavily  upon  Anton  Raphael 
at  this  time  when  he  was  painting  the  portaits 
of  the  Royal  Family. 

An  heir  was  born  to  the  Royal  House  in 
1750,  and,  when  he  was  a  few  months  old, 
Mengs  painted  a  pastel  of  the  little  infant  on 
a  red  carmine  plush  cushion.  He  painted  the 
child  in  its  shirt,  so  that  neither  the  face,  the 
head-dress,  nor  the  clothes  would  betray  whether 
it  was  a  prince  or  a  princess.  The  royal  father 
was  mightily  pleased  with  the  work,  and  had 
it  hung  near  to  his  lounge,  where  he  spent 
most  of  his  time,  and  kissed  it  every  time  it 
was  brought  into  the  room. 

Meanwhile  our  grateful  artist  had  commenced 
a  three-quarter  length  of  Annibali  in  lieu  of 
the  one  the  King  had  retained.  It  was  a  life- 
size  portrait  in  oils ;  but  Mengs  was  so  rushed 
for  work  that  he  could  devote  only  occasional 
moments  to  it.  He  also  began  a  portrait  of 
Sir  Hanbury  Williams,1  an  English  gentleman 

1  Mengs  always  spoke  of  Williams  in  terms  of  the  highest 
regard.  Williams  tried  to  persuade  Mengs  to  come  to  England 
with  an  offer  of  25,000  dollars,  cash  down,  for  which  he  was 
to  paint  five  years  in  England,    The  same  amount  was  to  be 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  241 

of  an  eccentric  disposition,  who  took  a  violent 
fancy  to  Mengs.  To  escape  greater  demands 
he  had  to  begin  this  portrait,  which,  however, 
remained  unfinished  because  of  the  sitter's  sudden 
departure  for  St.  Petersburg. 

The  King  often  reminded  him  of  the  altar- 
piece,  and  demanded  it  graciously  enough,  yet 
as  his  Sovereign  withal,  from  him.  Amongst 
several  designs  that  Mengs  had  sketched  and 
laid  before  him,  he  selected  an  "Ascension  of 
our  Lord."  Anton  Raphael  declared  to  his 
King  that  he  could  not  execute  so  large  and 
formidable  a  painting  without  being  allowed  to 
do  so  at  Rome  under  the  eyes  of  RafFaello,  as 
it  were.  This  was  conceded.  The  King  per- 
ceived the  justice  of  Mengs'  argument,  and  saw, 
besides,  that  this  would  be  the  only  way  to 
protect  this  altogether  too  complacent  artist  from 
the  importunities  of  would-be  sitters.  There 
was  only  one  portrait  which  Mengs  insisted  upon 
finishing  before  his  departure,  that  of  his  friend 
Annibali.  "  Anton  Raphael  Mengs  painted  his 
friend,  Domenico  Annibali,  in  the  year  1752,"  is 
the  inscription  and  dedication  which  he  painted 

his  by  way  of  expenses  when  he  had  once  come,  and  he  was 
to  have  the  choice  of  renewing  the  contract  at  the  expiration  of 
the  five  years.  Mengs  refused  on  account  of  the  obligations 
his  King  had  put  him  under. 


242    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

in  a  corner.  Mengs  showed  it  to  his  Sovereign, 
according  to  orders,  on  the  very  morning  of  his 
departure,  when  he  was  already  booted  and 
spurred.  "  My  dear  Raphael,"  said  the  King, 
"  I  find  in  this  picture  something,  I  cannot 
express  it,  which  all  other  work  which  you  have 
painted  for  me  seems  to  lack."  "  Yes,  your 
Majesty,"  Mengs  replied,  "it  is  the  friend — a 
sort  of  being  which  kings  do  not  become 
acquainted  with."  The  King  smiled,  gave  him 
his  hand  to  kiss,  and  said  :  "  Very  likely  you're 
right !  Much  happiness  to  you  on  your  voyage, 
and,  when  you  have  reached  Rome,  try  to  paint 
the  friend  in  my  picture  also." 

With  tears  in  his  eyes  Anton  Raphael  left  his 
fatherland  and  travelled,  in  September  175 1,  with 
his  wife,  an  infant  in  arms,  and  his  two  sisters, 
who  did  not  wish  to  separate  themselves  ever 
from  him,  towards  Italy.  Ismael  and  the  maid- 
servant remained  behind,  and  discovered  to  his 
loss  how  he  would  fare  without  him.  Many 
young  husbands  and  lovers  likewise  were  in  de- 
spair at  Mengs'  sudden  departure,  who  had  counted 
upon  having  their  portraits  painted  by  Mengs. 
His  coach  was  filled  with  such,  all  only  begun,  the 
portraits  of  the  King  and  Queen  amongst  them, 
which  he  promised  to  finish  at  Rome, 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  243 


Rome  was  delighted  to  see  him  return,  and 
now  looked  upon  him  as  upon  her  son.1  Shortly 
after  his  return  the  San  Luca  Accademia  elected 
him  an  honorary  member — a  rare  thing,  for  he 
was  only  twenty-four  years  old  at  the  time.2 
But  the  age  of  truly  learned  men  is  to  be 
reckoned  only  by  their  achievements.3 

When  Mengs  thus  arrived  in  Rome  the  third 
time  he  had  not  yet  a  great  name,  nor  was  he 
accustomed  to  splendid  remunerations.  The  trip 
had  strained  his  purse  so  much  that  he  had  only 
sixty  scudi  left  when  he  arrived.  Thus  he  visited 
several  amateurs  to  receive  commissions,  among 
them  Cardinal  Archinto.  The  Cardinal  asked 
him  to  paint  a  "  Christ  in  the  Desert "  as  a  com- 
panion piece  to  a  "  St.  John  in  the  Desert,"  by 
Raffaello  Santi,  which  he  owned.    Mengs,  making 

1  On  his  way  to  Rome  he  stayed  five  months  at  Venice.  He 
painted  there  an  oval  picture  of  the  "  Virgin  with  the  Christ- 
child,"  about  two  feet  and  a  half  high. 

2  The  election  took  place  on  the  strength  of  the  well-known 
picture  of  a  "  Reclining  Magdalen  "  contemplating  a  scroll  in 
her  hand,  which  Mengs  had  painted  shortly  after  he  had 
reached  Rome. 

3  Benedetto  XIV.  founded  a  drawing  academy  about  this 
time,  and  Mengs  was  appointed  a  full  professor  of  this  new 
school,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Italians.  The  system 
adopted  was  that  of  Paris.  Probably  just  this  French  system 
helped  more  than  anything  else  to  render  Mengs  disliked  and 
persecuted  about  that  time,  since  the  Italians  were  accus- 
tomed at  their  institutions  to  a  great  deal  more  freedom,  which 
they  were  wont  to  abuse. 


244    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

use  of  an  old  canvas  which  resembled  that  of 
Santi's  picture,  executed  the  task  so  well  that  it 
seemed  as  if  both  pictures  had  been  the  work  of 
one  inspiration  and  one  hand.  He  demanded 
only  sixty  scudi  for  it,  but  the  Cardinal  paid  him 
fifty  zecchina  for  it.  "  Now,"  Mengs  said, 
"  your  Eminency  carries  my  fate  in  your  hands." 
Archinto  soon  showed  the  picture  under  the 
guise  of  its  being  a  newly  discovered  treasure. 
Battoni  was  the  first  to  have  taken  it  for  a  work 
of  Raffaello's  own  pencil,  and  was  surprised  that 
it  should  have  remained  hidden  so  long.  Many 
others  agreed  with  him,  and  even  the  most  re- 
served agreed  that  it  was  a  studio  piece  which 
RafFaello  himself  must  have  gone  over  very  ex- 
tensively. The  new  picture  was  the  talk  of  the 
town,  and  was  discussed  in  a  cafe  in  Mengs' 
presence.  When  he  was  asked  about  it,  he  sur- 
prised every  one  by  saying  that  he  did  not  under- 
stand how  they  could  judge  so  erroneously, 
they  from  whom  a  better  discernment  was  to  be 
expected.  He  proclaimed  it  to  be  an  unimpor- 
tant thing,  and,  when  they  exclaimed  at  that,  he 
stated  that  he  took  it  for  the  work  of  a  beginner 
who  had  studied  RafFaello.  He  was  scoffed, 
and,  when  he  finally  proclaimed  himself  to  be 
the  author,  jeered  at ;  but  when  he  then  drew 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  245 

his  first  sketch  for  the  picture  out  of  his  pocket, 
the  mortified  opponents  had  to  succumb. 

This  episode  served  to  spread  the  fame  of 
Saxony's  Apelles,  but  it  also  raised  envy.  Many 
of  his  companions  and  friends  turned  enemies, 
and  the  Italians  among  them  united  in  publishing 
the  well-known  declaration  against  him,  which 
only  served  to  throw  a  greater  light  upon  the 
deserts  of  the  object  of  their  envy. 

After  Archinto's  demise,  this  picture  was  sold 
by  auction  for  eighty  doubloons,  and  the  pur- 
chaser passed  it  on  at  a  profit  to  an  Englishman, 
who  took  it  along  with  him  into  his  country. 

For  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  Mengs 
painted  a  copy  of  RafFaello's  "School  of  Athens," 
for  which  he  was  munificently  rewarded.  Then 
he  set  to  work  upon  the  great  altar-piece  for  the 
Church  at  Dresden.  Ismael  arrived  unexpectedly. 
The  house  was  too  small  to  hold  him,  so  he  had 
to  live  elsewhere,  and  much  trouble  was  thus 
averted.  He  was  glad  enough  to  see  his  beloved 
father  and  teacher  again,  but  the  maidservant  did 
not  find  her  place  among  the  women-folk.  A 
great  poet,  who  knew  the  estimable  and  beautiful 
sex  better  than  another,  says  :  "  Ove  donne  son, 
sempre  son  risse  n  ("  Wherever  women  are,  there 
is  disagreement  "). 


246    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Benedetto  XIV.  was  too  much  troubled  by 
other  occurrences,  during  these  last  years  of  his 
reign,  to  employ  our  artist  as  much  as  he  would 
have  liked,  but  he  showed  his  regard  for  him  by 
voluntarily  bestowing  upon  him  the  knighthood 
of  the  order  which  the  Popes  have  designated 
for  artists.  The  Cardinal  Archinto,  lately  re- 
turned from  Poland,  became  Mengs'  Maecenas 
and  friend,  and  in  this  latter  capacity  the  famous 
John  Winkelmann,  the  antiquarian,  rivalled  him. 
Winkelmann  owed  much  to  Mengs,  both  as  to 
worldly  preferment  and  fructification  of  ideas,  and 
he  extended  much  stimulation  in  return.  Mengs 
grew  so  fond  of  the  antique  that  he  formed,  at  a 
great  expense,  a  collection  of  Etrurian  vases. 
He  maintained  even  a  master  could  learn  much 
from  them  in  the  way  of  delicate  forms,  happy 
poses,  and  beautiful  draughtsmanship.  This  col- 
lection later  on  passed  into  the  Vatican  Library. 

About  this  time  Ismael  at  length  converted 
the  maidservant  to  Catholicism,  and  married  her 
as  a  reward ;  how  much  this  was  to  the  taste  of 
his  children  may  well  be  imagined. 

Many  young  people  from  beyond  the  Alps 
frequented  Anton  Raphael's  house,  begging  him 
for  instruction.  He  helped  them  all,  and,  modest 
as  he  was,  he  seemed  no  more  than  a  student 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  247 

among  them,  as  he  went  out  with  them  to  draw 
from  the  nude.  Anthony  Maron,  a  Viennese, 
was  his  favourite  scholar,  on  account  of  the  great 
expectations  which  he  raised,  and  later  on  ful- 
filled. Mengs  gave  him  his  sister,  Theresa  Con- 
cordia, as  a  wife  ;  the  other  sister,  Julia,  entered 
later  on  a  convent  at  Jesi. 

In  1756  the  war  had  recommenced  in  Saxony, 
consequently  Mengs'  pension  was  discontinued  ; 
but  he  enjoyed  a  European  reputation  now,  and 
could  well  support  himself  and  his  father,  who, 
however,  soon  returned  home  with  his  new  wife. 
Mengs  now  felt  a  desire  to  attempt  fresco  paint- 
ing. After  a  few  trials  which  turned  out  well, 
he  asked  permission  of  the  Abbot  of  St.  Eusebius, 
a  church  of  the  Celestins  at  Rome,  to  paint  a 
fresco  on  their  ceiling  gratuitously.  The  Father 
was  glad  enough  to  grant  him  permission,  and 
Mengs  immediately  began  his  task,  which  all 
connoisseurs  now  admire;  indeed  it  looks  as  if 
it  had  been  done  in  oils.  The  Abbot  then  begged 
him  to  paint  an  altar-piece  for  the  Monastery  of 
Sulmona.  This  was  agreed  to  upon  almost  the 
same  terms.  These  are  things  which  can  be  told 
of  a  Mengs  only. 

When  Benedetto  XIV.  died  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Clemente  XIII.,  Mengs  painted  two 


248    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


portraits  of  the  new  Pope,  one  for  the  Palazzo 
Rezzonico  at  Venice,  and  the  other  for  the 
Pope's  palace  at  Rome,  where  it  was  let  into 
the  most  beautiful  silver  and  gilt  frame  that 
was  ever  made.1 

He  now  painted  a  "  Mary  at  the  Door  of 
the  Temple "  for  the  Chapel  of  Caserto.  This 
was  commissioned  by  the  Queen  of  Naples,  a 
daughter  of  Augustus  III.  He  took  the  paint- 
ing over  in  person  to  Naples,  and  reached  it 

1  When  he  received  this  order,  he  announced  to  his  Holiness 
that  he  had  heard  Souplevas  had  painted  Benedetto  XIV.  on 
his  knees  ;  he,  however,  was  not  accustomed  to  work  in  that 
position,  and,  if  his  Holiness  desired  to  have  a  good  portrait, 
he  would  have  to  allow  him  to  do  it  sitting.  This  was  granted. 
The  papal  portraits  used  to  be  painted  entirely  in  the  palace, 
and  with  the  help  of  a  lay  figure.  Mengs  had  accustomed  him- 
self to  singing  and  whistling  while  at  work.  He  was  repri- 
manded, and  told  to  remain  silent  when  in  presence  of  his 
Holiness  ;  but  he  always  fell  back  into  his  habit.  Finally  he 
told  the  Monsignore,  who  was  repeatedly  admonishing  him: 
"  What  you  are  with  the  Pope,  I  am  at  home  with  the  King, 
and  I  think  you  might  imagine  that  I  would  keep  silent  of 
my  own  accord  if  I  could  help  it.  The  Pope  was  not  pleased 
with  the  picture,  and  said  :  "  Though  he  had  heard  the  paint- 
ing praised,  he  did  not  consider  the  picture  particularly  beauti- 
ful." Whereupon  Mengs  rejoined :  "  It  was  quite  a  customary 
thing  for  painters  to  hear  their  work  praised  highly  by  A,  and 
not  at  all  by  B."  The  first  papal  portrait  was  always  painted  for 
the  honour  of  the  thing,  and  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  the  title 
of  Papal  Painter.  When  the  second  portrait  was  demanded, 
Mengs  got  even  with  the  Pope.  He  asked,  "  Whether  his 
Holiness  was  pointed  as  to  his  prices  ?  The  English  gave  him 
a  hundred  zecchine,"  he  said,  "  and  this  was  his  usual  price." 
It  was  granted,  and  he  painted  the  second  one  also. 


PORTRAIT  OF  THE  AIM  I-  I 

(Dresden) 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  249 

just  before  their  Majesties  departed  for  Spain, 
which  throne  they  had  inherited.  The  Queen 
chid  him  for  having  been  so  long,  for  she  had 
wanted  him  to  do  some  portraits  for  which 
there  now  was  no  more  time.  The  King  said  : 
"  He'll  do  those  at  Madrid,  to  which  he  will  not 
fail  to  follow  us."  Mengs  was  appointed  his 
painter-in-ordinary.  He  did  some  work  for  the 
new  king  and  then  returned  to  Rome,  where 
he  painted  a  "  Parnassus  "  on  the  ceiling  of  the 
main  piece  in  Cardinal  Alessandro  Albani's  Villa 
di  Porta  Salara. 

As  soon  as  their  Majesties  had  reached  Madrid, 
Carlos  III.  summoned  Mengs  thither,  offering 
him  6000  scudi  a  year  as  a  salary,  besides  other 
preferments.  Our  painter  left  Rome  in  August 
of  the  year  176 1,  taking  his  wife  and  little 
children  with  him  ;  but  his  soul  remained  behind 
in  the  Vatican  and  Campidoglio.  Among  other 
canvases  he  took  the  big  Dresden  picture  along 
with  him,  of  which  Augustus  III.  was  constantly 
reminding  him,  in  spite  of  the  war  troubles. 
By  the  time  Mengs  arrived  in  Spain,  his  pro- 
tectress, the  Queen,  had  died.  But  Carlos  III. 
was  expecting  him  anxiously,  and  was  full  of 
plans  for  the  furthering  of  art.  He  desired  a 
revival  of  Spain's  old  fame  as  a  land  of  art, 


2 so    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  wished  to  rejuvenate  the  Academy.  He 
made  Mengs  elaborate  a  plan  for  a  system  of 
instruction ;  it  laid  especial  stress  upon  the  study 
of  anatomy,  and  it  was  adopted.  A  chirurgeon 
was  ordered  to  take  up  the  instruction,  but 
instead  of  limiting  himself  to  osseology  and 
myology  he  taught  internal  anatomy  and  things 
that  artists  do  not  need.  A  great  opposition 
arose ;  the  old  painters,  as  well  as  the  young 
students,  exclaimed  against  the  foreigner  Mengs. 
The  King  did  not  interfere  in  the  conflict,  but 
he  showed  his  confidence  in  his  painter  by 
commissioning  him  to  paint  all  the  ceilings  of 
the  royal  suite  al  fresco.  Mengs,  who  had 
been  thoroughly  offended,  could  now  afford  to 
turn  his  back  upon  the  Academy. 

Old  Ismael  died  in  the  year  1764  (on  the 
26th  of  December).  The  bold  widow  claimed 
all  his  belongings  to  the  exclusion  of  his 
children.  She  even  went  to  Spain  to  assail  her 
stepson.  But  he  calmed  her  down,  and  behaved 
so  liberally  that  she  returned  quite  contented. 
He  was  too  magnanimous  to  stickle  at  any- 
thing that  could  be  settled  by  money ;  yet  he 
was  aggravated  and  annoyed.  And,  as  always  in 
such  cases,  he  consoled  himself  with  hard  work. 

After  painting  the  ceilings  above  mentioned, 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  251 

many  royal  portraits,  and  some  small  travelling 
altars,  he  finished  the  Dresden  altar-piece,  which 
was  admired  for  several  weeks  in  a  chamber  at  the 
palace  in  Madrid  prior  to  being  shipped  to  Dresden. 

During  his  work  upon  the  ceilings  he  fell 
ill  with  a  swelling  of  his  legs,  which  the  doctors 
ascribed  to  the  continual  dampness  of  the  rooms 
where  he  painted  al  fresco  upon  the  wet  walls. 
They  were  afraid  he  was  going  to  die  upon  their 
hands,  so  he  had  permission  from  the  King  to 
depart  for  Italy,  but  with  the  strict  understand- 
ing that  he  was  to  return  and  finish  the  work 
begun.  He  travelled  by  easy  stages  to  Barcelona, 
with  nothing  but  painting  to  relieve  his  melan- 
choly. He  took  boat,  but  had  to  disembark  at 
Monaco  as  the  swelling  in  his  legs  had  grown 
so  dangerous.  There  Prince  Grimaldi,  well 
acquainted  with  his  work,  had  his  private 
physician  attend  him,  and  he  had  such  success 
that  our  artist  was  nearly  cured.  Out  of 
gratitude  Mengs  painted  the  prince's  portrait. 

Mengs  then  came  to  Genoa,  where  the  Academy 
honoured  him,  and  itself,  by  electing  him  an 
honorary  member.  Luca  Cangiaso  asked  him  to 
paint  his  wife's  portrait.  He  would  have  stayed 
longer  to  do  more  work  at  Genoa,  but  the  King 
of  Spain,  hearing  of  his   recovery  with  much 


252    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

pleasure,  bade  him  continue  to  Florence  and  bade 
him  paint  the  Royal  House  there,  the  Archduke, 
the  Archduchess,  and  their  four  children.  These 
and  the  portrait  of  a  Lord  Cooper  were  all  he 
did  in  Florence  at  the  time.  For  the  San  Luca 
Academy,  as  soon  as  it  heard  he  was  back  in 
Italy,  elected  him  its  president  in  absentia^  a 
thing  which  had  never  been  done  before  except 
in  the  case  of  Le  Brun. 

He  arrived  at  Rome,  in  February  1 77 1,  en- 
thusiastically welcomed  by  friends  whom  news 
of  his  illness  at  Monaco  had  alarmed.  Upon  his 
arrival  he  found  there  an  order  for  an  altar-piece 
on  wood,  a  "  Noli  me  Tangere,"  to  be  placed  in  a 
church  at  Oxford.  It  was  fully  as  good  as  the 
painting  of  the  same  subject  which  Barocci  did 
for  the  Casa  Bonvisi  at  Lucca.  All  Rome  flocked 
to  see  it  at  the  Villa  Medici,  where  Mengs  was 
painting  it. 

Scarcely  was  it  finished  when  an  order  came 
from  the  King  of  Spain  to  paint  him  a  "  Nativity." 
This  was  so  successful  that  everybody  agreed 
Mengs  had  profited  immensely  by  his  Spanish  so- 
journ. A  magic  light  issues  from  the  Christ-child, 
just  as  in  the  "  Notte  "  of  Allegri,  and  mingles 
with  the  light  from  the  torch  of  the  shepherd. 

The  Dowager  Electress  of  Saxony,  at  that  time 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  253 

visiting  Rome,  desired  extremely  to  see  the  one 
picture  by  Mengs  which  she  had  cherished  from 
the  days  of  her  youth,  and  had  seen  progressing 
under  her  very  eyes.  It  was  shown  to  her,  and  it 
is  said  that  she  was  overcome  to  such  a  degree 
that  she  did  not  utter  a  word  for  several  days. 
It  belonged  to  her  Royal  brother-in-law  now,  but 
she  ordered  a  replica  then  and  there. 

Pope  Clemente  XIV.  himself  was  little  versed 
in  art  affairs,  but  his  treasurer,  Monsignore  Gio- 
vanni Angelo  Braschi,  represented  to  him  that  he 
should  install  an  Antiquarium  and  Sculpture 
Gallery  of  Antiques  in  the  suite  of  rooms  which 
Innocent  VIII.  once  had  inhabited  in  the  Vatican. 
It  was  a  matter  of  finding  a  suitable  housing  for 
the  Belvedere  Apollo,  the  Laokoon,  the  Barberini 
Juno,  the  Antinous,  &c,  and  also  for  the  bronzes, 
the  medals  and  coins,  and  antique  jewellery,  and 
for  the  papyri.  Mengs'  advice  was  asked  in  the 
matter,  and  he  devised  a  plan  for  the  sumptuous 
decoration  of  one  of  these  halls.  Upon  the 
recommendation  of  Cardinal  Archinto,  Mengs 
was  asked  to  paint  the  ceiling  in  this  hall.  The 
choice  of  subject  was  entrusted  altogether  to  our 
artist,  who  was  just  as  learned  a  savant  as  he  was 
a  good  painter.  He  executed  a  much-admired 
"Allegory  with  a  Historia,  Time,  Janus,  Fama, 


254    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  Guardian."  Above  the  windows  there  are 
putti  playing  with  birds  in  a  swamp.  One  of 
the  birds,  the  ibis,  inhabits  the  swamps  of  the 
Nile,  the  other,  a  white  pelican,  those  near 
Ravenna.  These  are  the  places  where  the  plant 
from  which  papyrus  is  made,  grows,  and  thus 
ingeniously  Mengs  alluded  to  the  uses  to  which 
the  Hall  which  he  decorated  was  put.  Above 
one  of  the  doors  he  painted  Moses,  as  being 
the  earliest  writer  of  Books ;  above  the  other, 
St.  Peter,  as  being  the  Guardian  over  the  Books 
of  the  New  Testament.  Instead  of  the  usual 
cornice  between  ceiling  and  walls,  he  chose  a 
meander  frieze  of  gilt  metal,  since  he  judged  that 
a  cornice  at  a  place  where  it  was  not  needed  as  a 
protection  against  rain  was  illogical  and  wrong. 
While  he  was  painting  here,  Clemente  XIV.  sur- 
prised him  frequently,  and  was  delighted  at  seeing 
such  fine  work  in  progress.  If  he  had  known 
how  dangerous  it  all  was  for  Mengs,  he  would 
have  been  extremely  grieved.  Fresco  painting, 
with  which  our  painter  had  become  quite  ena- 
moured, always  had  a  bad  effect  upon  his  health. 

Clemente  XIV.  put  so  much  faith  in  Mengs' 
artistic  abilities  that  he  entrusted  to  him  the 
designing  of  the  medal  which  was  struck  in  cele- 
bration of  the  fourth  year  of  his  popedom.  The 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  255 

obverse  showed  the  Pope's  head,  the  reverse 
the  Three  Sister  Arts,  beautifully  posed  in  a 
magnificent  arcade.  Mengs'  inscription  reads, 
"  Artibus  restitutis." 

In  1773  Mengs  paid  a  visit  to  Naples,  where 
he  painted  the  Queen  and  a  second  portrait  of 
the  King,  who  had  been  quite  young  when  he  had 
painted  him  before.  Back  in  Rome  he  painted 
portraits  of  Cardinal  Zelada  and  the  Prime 
Minister  Azarra,  of  Baron  Edelsheim,  and  lastly 
one  of  himself,  at  the  request  of  Count  Lattanzio 
of  Firmian.  Loaded  with  honours  and  gifts 
from  the  Pope,  Mengs  now  returned  to  Florence, 
where  he  spent  several  months,  and  again  painted 
his  own  portrait  at  the  Archduke's  command, 
for  the  gallery  of  Autoritratti  in  the  Uffizi. 

Here  he  received  a  summons  from  His  Majesty 
the  Spanish  King,  who  was  impatient  to  have 
him  back  again  and  finish  his  work  at  Madrid, 
so  that  he  might  at  last  remove  the  scaffolding, 
which  was  still  standing  as  Mengs  had  left  it. 
Our  painter  sent  his  family  back  to  Rome,  and 
proceeded  leisurely  through  the  Savoy  and  France 
to  Madrid.  Even  then  he  was  all  but  detained 
by  the  Royal  House  at  Turin.  No  painter  was 
ever  so  sought  after  by  kings  and  queens  as 
Mengs.    His  voyage  was  none  of  the  pleasantest, 


256    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

by  the  way,  he  being  of  indifferent  health  and 
oppressed  with  fears  as  to  the  welfare  of  his  be- 
loved family.  So,  when  he  arrived  at  Madrid 
finally,  the  King  found  him  melancholy  and  weak, 
instead  of  thoroughly  well  again,  as  he  had  ex- 
pected. He  tried  to  reassure  him  by  favours  of 
a  kind  which  he  knew  would  be  the  most  wel- 
come.  He  allowed  each  of  Mengs'  five  daughters 
a  pension  of  200  scudi  per  annum,  and  promised 
to  care  for  his  two  sons. 

Out  of  gratitude,  rather  than  in  a  spirit  of  en- 
thusiasm, Mengs  at  once  fell  to  work  upon  the 
ceilings.  But  the  greater  part  yet  remained  un- 
touched, and  the  more  he  painted,  the  more  he 
wanted  to  paint.  He  again  overworked  himself, 
spending  his  nights,  instead  of  in  refreshing  sleep, 
in  the  elaboration  of  treatises  upon  painting. 

The  King  saw  him  waning  fast,  and  so  mag- 
nanimously decided  to  content  himself  with  those 
works  by  Mengs  which  he  already  possessed.  He 
commanded  him  to  return  to  Italy  for  his  health, 
confirmed  him  in  his  position  as  principal  painter- 
in-ordinary,  with  a  lifelong  pension  of  3000  scudi 
per  annum,  and  appointed  him  Director  of  the 
Spanish  Academy  at  Rome.  The  only  thing  he 
requested  was  to  receive  such  paintings  as  the 
state  of  Mengs'  health  and  his  inclination  might 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  257 

permit  him  to  finish.  To  show  his  apprecia- 
tion of  the  royal  bounty,  Mengs  sent  to  the 
King  his  wonderful  collection  of  casts  from  the 
antique.  It  came  across  seas  in  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  packing-cases.  Mengs  had 
had  the  most  of  these  casts  made  twice,  so  he 
still  retained  for  his  further  study  and  use  almost 
as  fine  a  collection  as  the  one  he  gave  away. 

Notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  winter, 
Mengs  left  Madrid  in  company  with  Don  Pietro 
Vanvitelli,  the  architect  and  engineer.  They 
went  by  way  of  Biscaya  and  France,  arriving  in 
Rome  on  the  11th  of  May  1777.  Our  pleasure 
in  seeing  him  again  among  us  was  tempered  by 
the  state  in  which  we  saw  him.  He  was  deadly 
pale,  and  looked  quite  wasted. 

Pius  VI.  had  ascended  the  Papal  throne.  There 
were  orders  awaiting  Mengs  from  the  King  of 
Poland,  the  Czarina  of  Russia,  the  Archbishop 
of  Salzburg,  and  others.  For  the  Archbishop 
he  sketched  a  fine  composition  of  the  "  Resurrec- 
tion of  our  Saviour."  But  an  urgent  order  from 
England  for  a  "  Perseus  and  Andromeda,"  for 
which  a  great  sum  was  offered,  was  the  first 
picture  he  painted.  The  subject  attracted  him 
particularly.  Again  all  Rome  for  weeks  flocked 
to  the  Barberini  Palace,  where  Mengs  lived,  to 

R 


258    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

see  and  admire  this  work.  Yet  there  were  not 
wanting  the  voices  of  detractors  and  scoffers, 
as  happened  with  Apelles.  The  present  writer 
himself  heard  Mengs  several  times  step  out 
and  take  such  people  in  hand,  kindly  instruct- 
ing them  and  replying  to  their  absurd  questions. 
Cardinals,  prelates,  princes,  ladies,  foreigners, 
priests,  and  monks  came — and  all  of  them  de- 
parted full  of  admiration.  The  Pope  had  it 
brought  to  him  into  his  palace.  It  seemed  as 
if  the  great  era  of  Michelangelo  and  Raffaello 
had  come  again.  Finally  the  "Andromeda"  was 
shipped  to  England,  but  a  lucky  French  pirate 
captured  it.  When  he  heard  of  it  Mengs 
laughed,  and  said  :  "  Andromeda  ought  to  have 
known  better  than  to  trust  herself  on  the  ocean 
again  after  the  experience  she's  had."  The 
English  amateur  tried  in  vain  to  ransom  her, 
and  to  console  him  Mengs  promised  him  a 
replica,  a  promise  he  did  not  live  to  fulfil. 

In  1777  excavations  between  the  Esquiline  and 
the  Viminal  hills,  within  the  grounds  of  the 
Villa  Negroni,  brought  to  light  antique  ruins 
with  paintings  of  Venus,  Adonis,  Cupido, 
Bacchus,  and  Ariadne,  besides  beautiful  orna- 
mental designs.  Mengs,  who,  ever  since  he 
had  seen  Naples,  maintained  that  the  ancients 


CUPID  SHARPENING  HIS'  ARROW 
(From  the  painting  by  Mtngs  at  Dresden) 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  259 

must  have  been  as  fine  painters  as  they  were 
sculptors,  at  once  visited  the  place,  and  not- 
withstanding the  dampness  of  the  place,  made 
fine  tinted  drawings  of  thirteen  walls  with  their 
paintings.  He  persuaded  the  company  who 
had  the  excavations  in  hand  to  issue  these  in 
copper  engravings.  Four  of  them  have  appeared 
meanwhile.1  The  text  accompanying  the  publi- 
cation of  the  ground-plan  of  the  palace  which 
had  been  excavated  is  perhaps  the  most  learned 
thing  of  its  kind  ever  issued  ;  it  was  written  by 
Mengs.  A  small  marble  Venus  was  unearthed 
at  the  same  time,  lacking  a  leg.  Now,  though 
Mengs  was  no  sculptor,  he  undertook  to  restore 
it,  and  his  success  was  so  signal  that  now  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  his  work  from  that  of 
the  old  Greek.  This  little  statue  came  into  the 
cabinet  of  the  Cavaliere  Azarra. 

To  show  how  accurate  Mengs'  judgment  of 
antique  sculptures  was,  it  is  worth  while  to 
relate  an  incident  in  passing  which  happened 
two  years  ago.  Among  the  ruins  of  the 
Villa  de'  Pisoni,  at  Tivoli,  a  marble  head  in  an 
indifferent  condition  was  found  and  brought  to 
the  same  Azarra,  who  asked  Mengs*  opinion 
about  it.  When  he  came  he  immediately  cried 
1  Bianconi's  account  was  printed  in  1780. 


260    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

out :  "  An  excellent  work,  of  the  period  of 
Alexander  the  Great !  "  Not  all  of  the  Roman 
professors  present  concurred  with  him.  But 
three  days  later  the  bust  belonging  to  the 
head,  which  had  been  found  in  the  meantime, 
was  brought,  and  on  it  was  found  the  lettering, 
"  Alexander,  the  son  of  Philipp,  the  Macedon." 

Mengs  also  had  lodgings  in  the  Villa  Sanesi- 
Cavallieri,  which  had  been  vacated  on  account 
of  the  unhealthy  air  around  there.  But  he 
liked  the  place  because  some  of  the  ceilings 
had  been  painted  by  Lanfranco  and  Annibale 
Carracci.  His  sojourn  there  of  course  did  not 
help  to  improve  his  health,  but  it  did  not  keep 
him  from  work.  He  elaborated  there  the  design 
of  an  altar-piece  for  St.  Peter's,  which  he  hoped 
would  immortalise  him.  The  subject  was  "  Jesus 
entrusting  to  St.  Peter  the  care  of  His  Fold,  in 
presence  of  all  the  Apostles."  In  order  to  execute 
this  picture  he  hired  a  large  room  of  the  Mar- 
chese  Accoromboni,  enlarged  the  windows,  and  had 
them  glazed  with  pure  mirror  glass,  not  the 
ordinary  window  glass,  in  order  to  obtain  the  best 
light.  A  sudden  illness  interrupted  his  work ; 
but  he  once  more  recovered.  Then  his  wife 
caught  a  fever,  to  which  she  succumbed  within 
a  few  days,  upon  the  3rd  of  April  1778.  With 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  261 


her  Mengs  buried  his  happy  days  ;  from  that 
moment  on  his  soul  was  steeped  in  everlasting 
grief  and  unrest.  Two  days  he  sat  by  the  side  of 
her  corpse,  refusing  food  and  sleep.  He  made  a 
cast  of  her  face,  intending  to  model  a  bust  and 
execute  it  in  marble  therefrom.  But  this  relief 
was  denied  him,  for,  from  sheer  emotion,  he  broke 
the  cast.  His  grief  overstepped  all  bounds ;  but 
he  did  not  shed  a  single  tear. 

As  was  quite  natural,  his  own  health  failed 
presently,  and  for  a  long  time  he  could  not 
think  of  doing  any  work.  Two  of  his  daughters 
were  married,  the  one  to  the  Spanish  engraver, 
Manuel  S.  Carmona  ;  but,  instead  of  rejoicing, 
Mengs  rather  increased  in  melancholy  at  losing 
two  more  members  of  his  beloved  family. 

An  order  from  the  family  of  the  Marchesi 
Rinuccini,  of  Florence,  for  a  "  Descent  from  the 
Cross  "  arrived  about  this  time.  The  lugubrious 
subject  harmonised  with  the  then  state  of  Mengs' 
feelings,  so  he  at  least  sketched  a  drawing  for 
them.  The  grief  of  the  principal  figures  is 
wonderfully  expressed  in  this  composition.  He 
was  just  on  the  point  of  tinting  it  when  an 
urgent  command  of  the  Spanish  King  came, 
ordering  him  to  paint  an  "  Annunciation M  for 
the  Royal  Chapel    at  Aranjuez.    He  at  once 


262    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

set  to  work  about  it,  not  heeding  the  condition 
of  his  health,  and  to  complete  the  measure 
undertook,  out  of  mere  courtesy,  to  paint  the 
portrait  of  Don  Onorato  Caetani.  He  almost 
completed  this ;  but  knowing  that  his  solution 
was  imminent,  he  set  everything  else  aside,  intent 
upon  completing  at  least  the  "  Annunciation " 
before  he  should  be  called  away.  Much  of 
this  was  done  in  bed.  Strangers  were  no  longer 
admitted. 

In  this  deplorable  condition  I  saw  him,  and 
entreated  him  to  consider  his  health ;  but  his 
thoughts  were  with  his  wife  in  the  other  world, 
where  he  soon  hoped  to  meet  her.  I  began  to 
praise  his  "  Annunciation,"  and  expatiate  upon 
its  beauties,  but  he  answered  :  "  How  trifling  is 
all  that,  compared  with  the  beauties  which  I  hope 
soon  to  behold. "  After  a  few  days  I  learnt  that 
he  had  moved  for  better  air  into  Salvatore  Rosa's 
old  house  on  the  Monte  Pincio,  and  I  was  greatly 
relieved  to  hear  that  he  began  to  feel  better  there. 
On  Saturday,  June  26th,  he  wrote  me  a  long 
letter,  in  which  he  does  not  touch  upon  his  illness. 
As  long  as  I  live  I  shall  treasure  it  as  my  most 
valuable  possession ;  for,  besides  being  a  proof  of 
his  gratitude  towards  the  Saxon  Court,  it  is  at 
once  the  last  work  of  those  hands  which  I  should 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  263 

like  to  call  divine — full  of  the  righteousness  and 
disinterestedness  which  ever  were  the  mainstays 
of  his  character.  On  Sunday  he  grew  worse. 
On  Monday  it  cheered  him  to  hear  that  the  Pope 
was  out  again  for  the  first  time,  after  a  long 
illness,  to  receive  an  embassy  from  China.  His 
veneration  for  this  Pope  was  extraordinary.  On 
St.  Peter's  Day,  the  29th  of  June  1779,  the  pride 
of  Saxony,  Rome's  and  Spain's  honour,  Anton 
Raphael  Mengs  died,  fifty-one  years  and  some 
months  old. 

He  was  buried  by  the  side  of  his  wife — the 
members  of  the  San  Luca  Accademia,  his  num- 
berless pupils,  and  friends  making  up  a  great 
concourse  of  mourners.  At  the  command  of 
the  Medici  a  post-mortem  examination  was  held. 
Mengs  was  supposed  to  have  inclined  towards 
consumption,  but  his  lungs  and  other  intestines 
were  discovered  to  be  intact.  Very  likely  over- 
work and  mental  strain  had  brought  about  his 
untimely  death. 

If  Mengs  had  been  as  great  in  economics  as 
in  painting  he  would  have  left  a  wealthy  family 
behind  him.  He  was  not  a  prey  to  some  of  those 
passions  which  easily  decimate  great  fortunes,  but 
there  was  no  fine  instrument,  no  statue,  no  cast 
from  the  antique,  no  Etruscan  vase,  no  book  on 


264    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

art,  no  engraving,  and  no  drawing  by  any  great 
master  which  he  would  not  have  liked  to  possess. 
Even  the  exorbitant  charges  of  designing  dealers 
seldom  dissuaded  him  from  purchasing.  Add 
thereto  that  he  had  twenty  children  (of  whom, 
indeed,  but  seven  came  to  be  grown  up),  his 
frequent  journeys  to  Germany,  Spain,  and  Italy, 
most  of  which  he  undertook  in  company  of  his 
entire  family,  his  manifold  charitable  expendi- 
tures, the  excellency  of  the  education  which  he 
offered  his  children,  and  the  elegant  and  expensive 
manner  of  his  living,  and  you  will  easily  conclude 
that  very  little  of  the  two  hundred  thousand 
scudi  which  he  earned  in  the  course  of  years  can 
have  been  left  over  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
His  table,  though  never  exceeding  what  one 
should  expect  to  find  in  the  family  of  a  well- 
to-do  artist,  grew  to  be  expensive  on  account  of 
the  way  strangers  abused  his  hospitality — people 
who,  though  they  had  not  been  invited,  were 
never  turned  away.  Through  the  intervention  of 
Cardinal  Riminaldi  and  the  Ambassador  Azarra, 
the  orphans  were  sufficiently  well  provided  for. 
The  younger  son  received  a  military  post  at  the 
hands  of  the  King  of  Spain  ;  the  elder  took 
orders.  Of  the  three  unmarried  daughters,  one 
has  only  a  few  days  ago  espoused  a  scribe  of  the 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  265 


Cardinal  Pallavicini ;  the  two  others  are  still 
looking  forward  to  the  fate  which  the  heavens 
have  in  store  for  them. 

Anton  Raphael  Mengs  was  of  small  stature 
and  lean.  In  his  younger  days  he  was  handsome, 
in  spite  of  his  sallow  complexion  ;  but  overwork 
ruined  his  good  looks.  He  remained  of  a  lively 
disposition  until  his  death  ;  easily  angered,  but 
also  quickly  appeased.  Whomever  he  had  wronged 
in  his  anger,  he  overwhelmed  with  gifts  to  com- 
pensate the  injury  received.1  He  could  not  see 
misery  without  desiring  to  alleviate  it,  and  his 
bounty  was  more  generous  than  that  of  others. 
His  smallest  alms  were  silver  pieces,  and  I  have 
known  him  to  give  away  ducats.  Besides  ad- 
miring music,2  he  esteemed  literature,3  especially 

1  Mengs  was  of  sanguine  temperament,  and  inclined  to  be 
humorous  and  easy-going,  especially  with  his  pupils.  When 
he  corrected  their  work  he  did  this  waggishly.  This  shocked 
the  sensibilities  of  the  French  pupils,  and  they  gradually  left 
him.  When  interrogated  upon  this  point,  Mengs  said  that,  as 
so  many  of  his  pupils  were  older  than  he,  he  did  not  feel  he 
could  play  the  schoolmaster  towards  them,  and  he  consequently 
adopted  a  sprightlier  method  of  correcting  their  work. 

2  He  was  particularly  fond  of  Corelli's  operas,  and  knew 
many  of  his  adagios  and  andantes  by  heart.  He  also  took 
some  instruction  on  the  clavicembalo,  in  order  to  become  better 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  chords.  In  company  with  Chevalier 
Devizet  he  studied  the  parallelism  of  architecture  and  music. 

3  Among  all  books  on  painting  he  prized  P.  Lomazzo's  work 
most. 


266    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

historical  works,  and  among  these  the  Greek  most, 
but  Pausanias  above  all.  Every  day  he  read  a 
chapter  in  the  Bible  ;  few  were  as  well  acquainted 
with  it  as  he.  He  understood  Latin  well  enough, 
and  commanded  the  German,  Italian,  French, 
Spanish  tongues,  and  even  the  English  fairly  well. 

Of  his  literary  work  a  "  Dissertation  upon 
Beauty"  has  appeared  in  German,  and  one  "  On 
the  Paintings  in  the  Royal  Palace  at  Madrid,"  in 
Spanish.  Other  MSS.  are  about  to  be  published.1 
He  loved  Italian  poets  like  Michelangelo,  and 
esteemed  Dante  highly.  Hence  he  had  his  gift 
of  oratory.  His  conversation  was  lively  and  in- 
teresting, but  always  serious ;  he  detested  mere 
chatting.  He  liked  very  much  to  discuss  art, 
and  he  did  it  so  clearly  because  his  ideas  were 
clear  on  that  point. 

I  believe  I  may  safely  say  that  Mengs  never 
detracted  anybody  in  his  life.  If  he  were  unable 
to  speak  well  of  a  person,  he  held  his  peace. 
Painters,  even  the  most  mediocre,  were  not  de- 
spised by  him  ;  he  used  to  maintain  that  painting 

1  The  principal  other  literary  remains  are — "  Reflections 
upon  Raffaello,  Allegri,  Vecelli,  and  the  Ancients,"  "  Speech 
on  the  Means  of  Reviving  the  Arts  in  Spain,"  "  Letters  to 
the  Sculptor  Falconet,"  "  Remarks  upon  the  Life  of  Allegri," 
"  Practical  Instruction  in  Painting,"  "  Letter  to  Guilmard  on 
the  Judging  of  Paintings,"  "  Abridged  Account  of  Famous 
Painters,"  &c. 


ANTON  RAPHAEL  MENGS  267 

was  nobler  and  more  difficult  than  poetry,  so  that 
even  those  who  could  not  go  beyond  a  moderate 
level  still  were  worthy  of  some  respect.  He  had 
an  uncommonly  high  opinion  of  Pompeo  Battoni 
and  Domenico  Corvi.  Himself  he  called  one 
of  the  smallest  and  most  unimportant  among 
painters,  and  he  did  this  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  uninitiated  might  be  deceived  ;  but  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  was  his  real  opinion  at  heart. 
He  thought  extremely  well  of  his  father's  work, 
and  always  said  that  he  had  never  been  able  to 
equal  the  head  painted  in  oils  by  his  father  which 
found  its  way  into  the  Dresden  Gallery. 

His  bust  was  placed  in  the  Pantheon  at  Rome, 
by  Azarra,  near  the  bust-portraits  of  Raffaello 
Santi  and  Annibale  Carracci. 


CHAPTER  X 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI 

Daniel  Nicolaus  Chodowiecki  was  descended 
from  a  Polish  family  that  had  settled  for  two 
generations  prior  to  his  birth  at  Dantzic,  which 
was  subject  to  Poland  until  the  year  1793,  when 
it  fell  to  Prussia.  Chodowiecki  communicating 
this  fact  to  the  Polish  astronomer  Joseph  Leski, 
also  speaks  of  the  correct  pronunciation  of  his 
family  name,  which,  he  writes,  should  be  Cho- 
do-vee-etz'-kee  (I  am  substituting  an  English 
phonetic  spelling  for  his  German),  the  initial 
Ch  to  sound  like  a  very  heavily  aspirated  H,  the 
third  syllable  slurred  over  into  the  fourth,  upon 
which  the  accentuation  rests. 

He  was  born  in  this  famous  and  extremely 
picturesque  old  Hanse  city  on  the  16th  of 
October  1726,  in  one  of  the  fine  gabled  houses 
of  the  Holy-Ghost  Street.  His  father  was  a 
grain  merchant,  and  Daniel  was  the  second  child, 
but  the  eldest  son.  He  wrote  about  his  early 
days  :  "  My  father  painted  miniatures  for  his  own 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  269 

amusement,  and  gave  me  my  first  instruction  in 
this  art.  However,  he  trained  me  really  for  a 
business  life,  and  so  it  happened  that  at  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  the  year  1740,  I  had  as  yet 
learnt  very  little  of  drawing  and  painting.  After 
his  death  my  mother's  sister,  whose  family  name 
was  Ayrer,  and  who  was  a  much  better  painter 
than  my  father,  gave  me  some  further  lessons. 
But  I  was  soon  apprenticed  in  the  shop  of  a 
dealer  in  spices,  where  I  remained  for  a  year  and 
a  half  only,  because  the  business  failed,  and  in 
the  year  1743  I  was  sent  to  Berlin,  again  into 
a  shop  which  belonged  to  my  mother's  brother." 

Daniel  was  bookkeeper  there,  and  managed  to 
paint  miniatures  for  snuff-boxes  in  spare  hours. 
These  were  sold  by  his  uncle  Ayrer  to  various 
merchants  at  Berlin.  Daniel  had  been  glad 
enough  to  come  to  Berlin  in  the  hopes  of  gaining 
new  inspiration  and  encouragement  of  his  art 
yearnings  there.  But  he  was  sorely  disappointed. 
At  that  time  Berlin  was  minor  in  importance 
to  Dantzic  :  the  few  artists  whom  Frederick  the 
Great  employed  were  aliens  and  inaccessible  to 
him.  There  was  nothing  to  see  in  the  way  of 
Fine  Art,  and  nobody  to  learn  from.  A  few 
indifferent  prints,  some  casts,  an  odd  water-colour 
or  so,  were  the  only  available  models  upon  which 


270    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

he  could  form  his  taste  and  his  skill.  Ayrer,  the 
uncle,  noticed  that  these  artistic  inclinations  were 
worth  while  cultivating  from  a  pecuniary  point  of 
view.  So  he  had  Daniel  and  his  brother  taught 
the  art  of  enamelling  by  a  certain  Haid,  a  painter 
who  probably  belonged  to  the  well-known  Augs- 
burg family  of  artists.  Daniel's  proficiency 
became  so  great  that  uncle  Ayrer  presently 
allowed  him  to  give  up  business  altogether  and 
devote  himself  exclusively  to  art.  He  soon  made 
a  name  for  himself  in  his  modest  way,  and 
demanded  prices  far  above  those  which  the  good 
people  of  Berlin  were  accustomed  to  pay  for  their 
miniatures  and  drawings. 

How  cramped  his  surroundings  were,  however, 
appears  in  full  force  when  we  hear  what  he  says 
about  his  endeavours  to  advance  to  a  higher  state 
of  draughtsmanship  and  to  pursue  painting  in 
oils.  He  had  managed  to  secure  palette,  brushes, 
and  colours,  and  one  evening  in  1757  he  was 
suddenly  "  taken  with  a  feverish  desire,"  he 
writes,  "  to  take  up  oil  painting  seriously.  I  set 
my  palette  and  painted  an  old  man's  head  that 
very  night.  You  cannot  imagine  my  delight 
at  perceiving  that  it  would  be  possible  for  me 
to  practise  oil  painting  at  nights,  for  during  day- 
light other  work  kept  me  busy.     The  way  1 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  271 

proceeded  was  thus  :  I  spread  a  piece  of  canvas 
horizontally  upon  a  table,  placed  a  lamp  at  the 
farther  end,  and  caught  the  rays  of  the  light 
by  means  of  a  lens,  which  I  conducted  all  over 
the  canvas  wherever  I  needed  it.  This  provided 
me  with  sufficient  light,  and  I  painted  until  over- 
come by  sleep.  I  now  painted  an  old  man  asking 
an  old  woman  for  her  daughter  in  marriage ;  then 
the  story  of  Eleazar,  who,  led  by  Laban,  proposes 
to  Bethuel  to  bestow  his  Rebecca  upon  Isaac  ; 
thereupon  several  domestic  scenes.  One  evening, 
visiting  Mr.  Rode  at  the  Academy,  I  beheld  the 
model  still  undressed,  seated  by  the  side  of  an  iron 
stove.  There  was  little  light  in  the  room  besides 
that  which  the  stove  furnished,  and  so  I  had  a 
splendid  Rembrandt-like  effect  before  me.  I 
made  a  sketch  of  it  at  once,  and  when  I  reached 
home,  the  drawing  lesson  at  the  Academy  being 
over,  I  set  up  my  palette  and  painted  the  picture, 
finishing  it  by  three  o'clock  next  morning.  When 
summer-time  came  I  set  a  day  every  week  aside 
for  painting  in  oil ;  yet  I  managed  to  accomplish 
only  very  little,  and  indeed  finished  only  a  few 
portraits,  some  studies,  and  a  couple  of  historical 
pictures." 

About  this  course  at  the  Academy  he  writes  : 
"  This  study  of  drawing  from  the  living  model 


272    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

lasted  but  a  very  few  years.  '  What ! — and  isn't 
that  enough  ? '  I  hear  the  finished  artist  exclaim- 
ing. No,  my  dear  fellow  !  If  you  draw  from 
the  life  all  your  born  days,  at  the  end  of  them 
you'll  find  that  there  is  a  lot  to  be  learned  still, 
and  that  you  have  not  drawn  enough.  But  after 
a  while  especially  those  who  needed  the  practice 
most  grew  tired  of  the  study  and  stayed  away. 
We  had  to  give  it  up,  Mr.  Rode  and  I,  who  were 
the  last  to  come."  He  had  rightly  ascertained 
that  study  of  this  description  was  the  only  thing 
to  guard  one  against  mannerism,  and  mannerism 
he  so  much  wanted  to  avoid.  "  Mannerism  is 
always  a  deviation  from  truth,  and  every  devia- 
tion of  this  kind  is  ever  a  fault.  Whoever 
imitates  the  manner  of  another  artist  accentuates, 
increases  upon  it :  he  does  not  compass  his 
virtues,  but  enlarges  upon  his  faults  and  makes 
them  more  apparent.  It  is  just  as  when  some- 
body tries  to  imitate  the  looks  of  another  person  : 
he  exaggerates  such  traits  as  distinguish  the  other 
person  from  the  generality  of  humanity,  and 
distorts  his  face  into  a  grimace." 

The  paintings  which  Chodowiecki  produced 
were  rustic  and  pastoral  scenes,  more  or  less 
imitating  the  style  of  Watteau,  Lancret,  and 
Pater.    His  own  criticism  on  mannerism  applies 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  273 

excellently  to  them.  The  best  are  such  as  dis- 
play, instead  of  the  ordinary  Arcadian  scenery, 
some  view  of  Berlin  and  its  near  surroundings. 
Once  only  he  attempted  a  loftier  subject.  In 
1762  the  Calvinist  Jean  Calas,  a  merchant  of 
Toulouse,  had  been  unjustly  put  to  the  rack  and 
executed  upon  a  false  charge  brought  forth  by 
the  French  clergy.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Voltaire  took  up  his  cause,  and  with  his  "  Sur  la 
tolerance "  was  instrumental  in  proving  Calas's 
innocence  as  to  the  charge  of  murder  which  had 
been  laid  to  his  door.  In  1765  the  French  king 
made  such  amends  to  the  family  as  he  could, 
and  Calas's  fame  at  least  was  cleared  of  obloquy. 
In  this  same  year  there  appeared  a  print  by 
Delafosse,  after  a  design  by  de  Carmontelle, 
representing  the  liberation  of  Calas's  family,  and 
it  found  its  way  to  Berlin,  where  Chodowiecki, 
who  belonged  to  the  Reformed  or  Calvinist 
Church,  was  naturally  highly  interested  in  the 
whole  affair.  He  was  inspired  to  paint  in  oils 
a  picture  of  Calas  in  chains,  taking  leave  of  his 
family  before  being  led  to  execution.  The 
painting  possesses  a  good  deal  of  the  stagey 
sentimentality  of  Greuze,  lacking,  of  course,  the 
Frenchman's  skill  and  also  the  largeness  of  his 

point  of  view.     It  is  important  principally  for 

s 


274    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  fact  of  its  being  virtually  Chodowiecki's  last 
painting  in  oil.  It  came  to  acquire  this  position 
from  the  fact  that  he  etched  a  plate  after  his  own 
picture,  and  this  plate  established  his  reputation 
as  an  etcher  on  so  firm  a  basis,  that  ever  after 
he  was  overwhelmed  with  orders  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  he  no  longer  found  time  for  any  other 
work  besides  etching.  He  wrote  about  this  time 
to  his  mother  :  "  Je  m'amusai  a  la  gravure,  mes 
ouvrages  plurent  au  public,  je  voulais  etre  peintre, 
le  public  voulut  que  je  sois  graveur,  he  bien,  je  le 
suis  plus  que  jamais  et  on  m'encourage  de  tout 
cote  en  me  payant  tout  ce  que  je  demande." 

Chodowiecki  had  been  working  desultorily  with 
the  needle  ever  since  the  year  1757.  One  of  his 
plates,  etched  in  1763  after  the  peace  of  Hubertus- 
burg  had  closed  the  Seven  Years'  War,  brought 
him  to  the  notice  of  Frederick  the  Great.  He 
had  composed  a  frosty  allegory,  "  Peace  bringing 
back  the  King,"  and  Frederick  was  represented  as 
a  Roman  emperor.  He  was  not  much  taken 
with  the  artist's  work  however,  and  is  said  to 
have  remarked,  "Ce  costume  n'est  que  pour  les 
heros  du  theatre."  The  king's  adverse  criticism 
can  hardly  be  pronounced  out  of  place  in  this 
case,  for  Chodowiecki  lacked  the  high-mindedness 
necessary  for  the  invention  of  a  really  good  alle- 


Chodowieck 


PORTRAIT  OF  THE  AIM  1ST 

(Berlin) 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  275 

gory.  But  even  if  his  own  effort  would  have 
been  better,  this  hankering  after  royal  favour 
would  not  have  been  attended  with  any  success, 
for  Frederick  the  Great  was  so  completely  biassed 
in  favour  of  French  art  and  letters,  that  he  had 
no  interest  to  spare  for  the  productions  of  his 
own  subjects.  What  the  king  failed  to  do,  his 
subjects  amply  compensated  for.  Authors  and 
publishers  pressed  engagements  upon  Chodo- 
wiecki,  so  that,  industrious  as  he  was,  he  sometimes 
found  scarcely  time  to  breathe.  This  continued 
until  his  old  age.  In  1794,  when  Chodowiecki 
was  almost  seventy  years  old,  he  wrote  one  day 
to  a  friend,  Councillor  Becker:  "Last  night  I  sat 
up  drawing  until  between  one  and  two  o'clock, 
and  was  overpowered  by  sleep  and  fell  off  my 
chair  sideways,  like  this,"  and  he  draws  a  sketch 
of  his  fall.  Much  earlier,  when  he  was  still  at 
the  height  of  his  powers,  he  wrote  to  a  lady,  the 
Countess  Solms,  with  whom  he  had  formed  one 
of  those  sentimental,  platonic  friendships  of  which 
the  eighteenth  century  was  so  fond  :  "  I  wanted 
so  much  to  treat  a  series  of  historical  subjects 
some  day  in  which  I  should  be  able  to  venture 
on  the  precincts  of  a  real,  grand  style,  beautiful 
draperies,  picturesque  poses,  artistic  composition 
and  lighting,  but  I  always  had  to  stick  to  the 


276    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

dallying,  fashion-trumpery  of  the  novels.  There 
were  some  plates  which  I  had  to  do  for  Lavater, 
and  there  are  still  some  more  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion waiting  for  me  ;  but  here  comes  a  man  with 
a  quick  order  for  a  couple  of  dozen  designs  for  a 
new  translation  of  *  Clarissa,'  and  that  must  be 
attended  to.  I  was  commissioned  to  draw  sixty 
designs  for  Salzmann's  '  Moralisches  Elementar- 
buch/  of  which  only  about  a  third  have  been 
completed,  when  in  steps  a  Danish  publisher  and 
wants  a  number  of  plates  for  'The  Death  of 
Baldur,'  by  Ewald,  and  as  many  for  another  book 
by  the  same  author  called  'The  Fishermen.'  So 
now  I  must  try  to  dive  into  a  mythical  Gothic  age 
and  study  the  costumes  of  peasants  and  fisherfolk." 

The  work  which  Chodowiecki  accomplished  in 
consequence  of  this  unusual  requisition  of  his 
talent,  and  by  dint  of  an  exemplary  application, 
amounted  to  a  little  over  two  thousand  etched 
pictures,  besides  innumerable  drawings.  These 
latter  were  partly  portraits,  partly  sketches  and 
preparatory  studies  for  the  etchings,  and  partly 
finished  designs  which  other  artists  etched. 

Perhaps  half  of  all  this  work  was  destined 
to  ornament  the  duodecimo  almanacs  which 
flourished  well  into  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.    The  rest  are  book  illustrations. 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  277 

Less  than  a  fourth  of  the  whole  output  consists 
of  distinct  plates,  issued  without  any  accompany- 
ing letterpress.  The  invention  of  almost  all 
of  the  designs  rested  with  Chodowiecki.  His 
work,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  the  German  counter- 
part of  the  work  of  Moreau,  Eisen,  Marillier, 
Cochin,  Choffard,  Gravelot,  &c.  Whereas 
France  boasts  of  at  least  half-a-dozen  exquisite 
artists  of  this  class  and  at  least  half-a-dozen  further 
good  ones,  Chodowiecki  bears,  as  far  as  Germany 
is  concerned,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  burden 
upon  his  own  shoulders  :  there  is  really  no  one 
to  be  named  alongside  of  him,  and  the  secondary 
masters  are  very  inferior.  His  work  compares 
with  the  French  very  much  as  we  expect  it 
would  compare,  and  somewhat  as  Prussia,  then 
a  rising  but  sorely  oppressed  State,  compared 
with  favoured  France,  the  leader  of  the  world. 
He  lacked  training,  and  consequently  failed  to 
acquire  the  marvellous  draughtsmanship  and 
the  perfect  skill  of  his  French  colleagues.  Yet 
he  fought  a  noble  battle,  considering  what  diffi- 
culties he  had  to  encounter.  The  facility  of  his 
inventive  powers  is  remarkable  :  as  long  as  there 
is  no  question  of  a  sheer  lack  of  knowledge,  for 
whicji  he  cannot  be  called  to  account,  to  hinder 
him,  his  work  is  truly  good.    The  Berlin  of  his 


278    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

day  did  not  furnish  him  with  the  possibility 
of  being  rightly  informed  about  the  looks  of 
a  fourteenth-century  knight,  or  a  Chinese 
emperor,  or  a  Peru  Indian,  and  when  he  is 
forced  to  illustrate  books  with  such  subjects, 
he  naturally  falls  short  of  the  mark,  uncon- 
sciously trying  to  hide  his  failings  behind  a 
theatrical,  empty  style.  But  when  no  more  than 
the  picture  of  everyday  life  around  him  was 
required  of  him,  when  he  illustrated  Lessing's 
"Minna  von  Barnhelm,"  or  etched  those  delicious 
little  plates  with  patterns  of  head-dresses  of  the 
day,  and  fashion  pictures  of  this  nature,  he  was 
nearly  if  not  quite  on  a  par  with  the  best  French 
illustrators. 

From  the  moment  of  his  being  permanently 
established  as  an  illustrator  and  etcher,  Cho- 
dowiecki's  life  flowed  on  in  a  very  smooth  current. 
He  had  married  the  daughter  of  a  French 
Refugee  family,  and  held  some  Church  and  civic 
offices.  He  had  missed  going  to  Italy.  When 
he  freed  himself  from  his  connection  with  the 
business  of  his  uncle  Ayrer,  he  wrote  of  this 
period:  "  This  (the  summer  of  the  year  1754) 
would  have  been  the  correct  time  for  an  Italian 
trip :  I  did  not  so  much  as  entertain  the  idea 
seriously  for  a  moment,  nor  did  I  think  much 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  279 

of  such  a  plan."  Because,  it  appears,  he  thought 
that  he  had  noticed  many  of  his  colleagues  came 
back  from  Italy  quite  spoilt,  and  ever  after  he 
would  always  recommend  to  anybody  who  asked 
him  for  his  advice,  "  Do  not  go  to  Italy  before  you 
are  absolutely  sure  of  your  draughtsmanship." 

In  the  year  1773,  however,  he  went  off  for  a 
little  journey.  He  had  not  seen  his  home, 
Dantzic,  for  thirty  years,  and  now  he  made  up 
his  mind  to  revisit  it,  and  to  visit  once  more 
his  old  mother.  He  wrote  a  diary  of  this  trip, 
which  kept  him  away  for  nine  weeks  instead  of 
the  originally  intended  two ;  it  is  almost  as 
interesting  as  Dtirer's  journal  of  his  voyage  to 
the  Lowlands.  Dilrer  took  his  sketch-book  along 
with  him :  but  Chodowiecki  went  a  step  further,  he 
actually  illustrated  his  diary.  One  hundred  and 
eight  drawings,  most  of  them  carefully  finished, 
help  to  make  clear  the  important  episodes  of  his 
trip  better  than  any  words  can.  Travelling  in  a 
waggon  or  stage-coach  did  not  agree  with  Cho- 
dowiecki, so  he  began  the  journey  by  buying  a 
nag.  Travelling  was,  in  his  day,  scarcely  less 
perilous  than  in  Dtirer's  time.  As  far  as  that 
goes,  we  know  how  dangerous  it  was  even  forty- 
two  years  later,  also  at  the  close  of  a  great  period 
of  wars,  when   after    the    battle  of  Waterloo 


280    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Mme.  D'Arblay  went  in  search  of  her  wounded 
husband,  and  dire  necessity  forced  her  to  make 
roundabout  journeys  of  dozens  of  leagues  in 
order  to  be  moving  at  all.  Chodowiecki,  too, 
has  to  take  special  precautions  as  to  the  road  he 
chooses,  and  it  is  not  always  the  short  cuts  which 
he  deems  advisable.  It  is  from  such  diaries  as 
Mme.  D'Arblay's  and  Chodowiecki's  that  we 
obtain  a  most  fascinating  insight  into  the  life 
of  an  age  which  seems  so  little  removed  from 
us  in  its  philosophy,  its  literature,  its  art,  yet 
so  unthinkably  distant  in  its  manners  and  every- 
day habits.  Often  Chodowiecki  finds  no  inn  at 
all,  and  it  takes  long  persuasion  before  he  can 
secure  some  bread  for  his  horse  (other  fodder 
there  is  none)  and  a  few  crumbs  for  himself. 
Upon  the  third  night  he  put  up  at  an  inn  in 
a  village  called  Massow.  He  lay  down  on  the 
floor  wrapt  in  his  greatcoat,  his  knapsack  for 
a  pillow :  there  were  no  beds.  Near  him  lay 
a  feverish,  Polish  beggar,  on  some  few  rushes. 
In  the  middle  of  the  night  a  military  surgeon 
and  a  tax-collector  stormed  in  with  three 
musicians.  They  began  to  dance  and  sing  and 
cut  capers.  Presently  they  began  to  worry 
Chodowiecki,  who  had  pretended  to  be  asleep  all 
this  time.    It  was  only  the  landlady's  intervening 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  281 


with  the  information  that  the  traveller  hailed 
from  Berlin  which  made  them  desist.  This  is 
the  kind  of  hotel  accommodation  one  had  to  put 
up  with  at  wayside  inns  in  1773. 

In  Dantzic  he  found  his  mother  hale  and 
hearty  and  his  sisters  well.  He  had  many  visits 
to  make,  and  many  of  the  notable  people  in  the 
town  to  portray.  His  picture  of  the  town 
shows  us  how  very  different  a  place  the  Dantzic 
of  1773  must  have  been  from  the  Dantzic  of 
to-day.  The  outward  aspect  of  the  streets  has 
altered  comparatively  little,  but  the  population 
seems  to  have  been  racially  quite  different. 
Then  it  was  in  great  part  a  Slav  people  that 
lived  within  its  walls.  To-day  the  Polanders 
certainly  are  very  little  noticeable,  and  the  city 
is  quite  German. 

Shortly  after  his  return  to  Berlin — the  very 
evening  of  his  arrival  a  fire  broke  out  in  his 
quarter  of  the  town,  and,  tired  as  he  was,  he  had 
to  turn  out,  for  he  belonged  to  the  voluntary 
fire  brigade — he  went  off  upon  another  short 
trip,  still  upon  the  same  good  old  horse.  He 
appraised  a  private  gallery  in  Silesia,  and  from 
there  he  rode  to  Dresden,  which  he  reached  upon 
the  24th  of  October.  Dantzic  was  one  of  the 
first  mercantile  towns  in  Germany,  Dresden  was 


282    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

the  centre  of  art — in  those  times.  Both  of  them 
were  altogether  out  of  comparison  with  the  crude 
Berlin  in  which  he  lived,  lacking  historical 
tradition  and  artistic  life  !  Chodowiecki  revelled 
in  the  gallery  at  Dresden  and  in  the  society  of 
brother  artists,  above  all  of  Graff,  with  whom  he 
had  long  been  on  the  friendliest  of  terms,  and 
who  for  many  years  was  a  steady  correspondent 
of  his.    He  then  journeyed  home  via  Leipsic. 

Only  three  further  trips,  none  of  them  as 
important  as  the  one  to  Dantzic,  interrupted  the 
monotony  of  his  Berlin  life.  In  July  of  the  year 
1780  he  once  more  visited  Dantzic  on  account  of 
the  death  of  his  mother,  settled  her  affairs  there, 
and  took  his  sisters  back  with  him  to  Berlin,  in 
accordance  with  a  promise  which  he  had  made  to 
his  mother  seven  years  before.  In  September- 
October  of  the  year  178 1  he  went  to  Hamburg 
to  catalogue  a  collection  of  fine  prints  belonging 
to  one  Mr.  Sillem,  for  he  was  not  only  deemed  a 
fine  artist  but  also  a  connoisseur  of  prints,  and, 
indeed,  he  himself  had  formed  an  important 
collection. 

This  time  the  journey  was  undertaken  on 
horseback  again,  but  not  on  his  old  one :  he 
had  sold  that  after  his  return  from  Dresden. 
In  a  letter  to  Graff  he  says  :  "  I  wanted  to  travel 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  283 

faster  than  by  ordinary  post,  so  I  engaged  extra 
post-horses,  riding  with  a  postilion,  and  yet  it 
took  me  three  nights  and  two  days  to  reach 
Hamburg.  On  the  way  back  I  engaged  courier- 
horses,  and  we  were  two  nights  and  a  day  and 
a  half  under  way." 

The  third  trip  was  taken  purely  for  pleasure 
in  the  company  of  his  son  William,  his  son-in- 
law,  and  of  the  painter  KrUger.  Chodowiecki, 
visiting  once  more  Dresden,  Leipsic,  and  Dessau, 
again  kept  a  detailed  journal  of  events  :  this  was 
in  the  year  1789.  He  hunted  up  his  good  friends 
Graff  and  Zingg  (the  landscape  etcher)  at  once, 
and  devoted  much  time  to  the  gallery,  the 
museum  of  antiques,  &c.  The  mummies  inter- 
ested him  particularly.  Among  the  pictures  the 
Correggios  engaged  his  attention  most,  then  follow 
the  Bolognese  painters.  But  that  was  the  general 
taste  of  the  times.  A  trip  to  Konigsstein,  which 
was  then  still  considered  an  inaccessible  fortress, 
furnished  an  opportunity  for  some  fascinating 
descriptions.  At  Leipsic  it  is  old  Oeser,  Goethe's 
drawing-master,  who  figures  most  prominently 
in  the  diary ;  at  Dessau,  Basedow,  an  important 
work  by  whom  Chodowiecki  had  illustrated. 

During  all  these  travels  on  horseback  he 
worked  almost  as  industriously  as  at  home  in 


284    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

his  studio.  He  writes  to  say  how,  one  day, 
this  incessant  application  caused  him  the  loss 
of  some  of  his  front  teeth.  He  was  sketching, 
holding  his  book  in  his  left  hand,  his  pencil  in 
his  right,  consequently  being  forced  to  take  the 
reins  of  his  horse  between  his  teeth.  The  lazy 
animal  suddenly  stumbled,  and  the  unexpected 
lurch  made  it  pull  heavily  at  the  reins,  which 
tore  a  couple  of  Chodowiecki's  teeth  out. 

Upon  the  ist  of  June  1785  Chodowiecki's  wife 
died.  A  few  days  later  he  writes  to  his  friend  : 
"  Your  good  wishes,  my  esteemed  friend,  for  my 
good,  righteous,  and  lovable  wife  did  not  reach 
their  aim.  She  is  no  more ;  she  has  left  me,  last 
Wednesday,  after  an  illness  of  eight  days'  dura- 
tion. I  cannot  weep  any  more ;  but  my  heart 
continues  to  bleed.  She  was  so  altogether  my 
friend,  ever  wanting  to  help,  full  of  patience  for 
my  faults,  joyous  when  I  was  glad ;  my  loss  is 
irreparable."  The  sudden  death  was  particularly 
distressing,  since  the  day  had  been  set  aside  for 
the  marriage  of  his  second  daughter.  It  had  to 
be  postponed ;  but  the  ceremony  took  place,  like 
that  of  her  elder  sister  two  years  before,  in  the 
open.  Chodowiecki  wrote  about  it  to  Graff: 
"  Last  week  I  married  my  eldest  daughter  to  a 
French  preacher  in  Bourg,  Monsieur  Papin.  The 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  285 

ceremony  took  place  in  my  little  garden  (Cho- 
dowiecki  lived  in  Behrenstrasse :  there  are  no 
gardens  to  be  found  in  that  quarter  to-day !) 
beneath  the  open  sky  and  the  shade  of  two  beau- 
tiful pear-trees  which  were  in  blossom  still.  Some 
orthodox  people  took  exception  to  this ;  still,  it 
all  looked  very  picturesque  and  charming." 

Age  was  now  coming  upon  Chodowiecki.  He 
writes  to  Graff:  "  Truly  I  have  worked  all  my 
life  like  a  horse,  and  not  like  a  lazy  one."  He 
began  to  turn  ill  of  a  swelling  in  the  legs  ;  yet 
this  did  not  keep  him  from  work.  He  had  a 
table  arranged  in  such  a  manner  that  he  could 
work  even  when  in  bed.  The  moment  his  health 
improved  a  bit  he  wrote:  "Everything  is  all 
right  again,  and,  always  excepting  my  leg,  I 
feel  very  well,  enjoy  the  best  of  appetites,  and 
always  take  a  piece  of  rye  bread  along  from 
breakfast  to  eat  in  case  dinner  should  be  behind 
time  for  some  reason  or  other,  and  I  eat  another 
piece  at  one  o'clock  in  the  night  when  I  cease 
working,  and  then  I  go  to  rest  with  no  less  appe- 
tite than  before,  and  I  often  think  that  I  shall  go 
to  my  last  rest  just  as  gladly  when  it  pleases  our 
Lord  to  call  me,  and  in  five  minutes  I  am  asleep. 
I  tie  a  string  to  my  thumb  from  the  alarm  clock 
so  as  to  be  sure  to  awake  at  seven,  and  then  I  sit 


286    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

down  to  work.  Sometimes  pleasant,  sometimes 
unpleasant  and  uninteresting  visitors  turn  up,  who 
shorten  my  days,  short  enough  of  themselves. 
But  I  try  to  have  patience  with  them  all,  and  try 
in  the  evening  to  make  good  the  losses  I  may 
have  sustained  during  the  day.  Thus  joys  and 
griefs  alternate ;  but,  after  all,  the  joys  are  in  the 
majority,  only  grief  strikes  deeper  at  the  time." 
Sometimes  he  slept  sitting  up  amid  bolsters  and 
cushions  in  order  to  economise  the  time  which 
the  making  of  his  toilet,  adjusting  of  his  wig, 
&c,  would  take  him  next  morning. 

It  was  not  only  industry  but  also  expedition 
which  characterised  his  method  of  work.  One 
day  he  was  in  a  large  company  of  merry  folk, 
one  of  whom  produced  a  drawing  which  he  had 
sketched  of  a  soldiers'  brawl  in  the  Behren 
Street.  Without  attracting  attention  Chodowiecki 
disappeared  with  the  sketch  for  barely  more  than 
a  few  minutes.  When  he  returned  he  showed 
the  stupefied  company  a  dry-point  plate  which 
he  had  quickly  made  after  the  drawing,  along 
with  a  few  finished  proofs.  Prints  of  this  plate 
have  been  preserved,  and  it  is  catalogued  as 
number  750  in  the  "ceuvre"  of  Chodowiecki 
by  Engelmann. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life  our  artist's 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  287 

health  was  considerably  improved,  and  he  was 
honoured  to  the  degree  of  being  appointed  Pre- 
sident of  the  Berlin  Academy  upon  the  death  of 
his  friend  Rode,  which  took  place  in  1797.  In 
the  succeeding  year  he  was  elected  a  correspond- 
ing member  by  the  Academy  of  Siena.  His 
honours  did  not  affect  his  modesty.  As  early  as 
the  year  1767  he  had  been  interested  in  the  welfare 
of  the  Berlin  academy,  and  kept  it  in  view  even 
at  times  when  the  actual  doings  of  that  establish- 
ment were  not  at  all  in  accordance  with  his  own 
ideas.  For  many  years  he  had  officiated  as  its 
secretary,  and  as  such  was  responsible  for  an 
innovation,  namely,  the  holding  of  annual  public 
exhibitions.  It  was  within  the  walls  of  the 
academy  that  he  suffered  a  slight  stroke  in 
February  of  the  year  1800.  Exactly  a  year  later, 
on  the  27th  day  of  February  1801,  he  expired. 

His  reputation  had  become  fairly  international. 
He  had  often  been  compared  to  Hogarth,  a 
comparison  which  much  displeased  him,  and 
which,  to  be  true,  was  likely  to  lead  to  an  unjust 
appreciation  of  both  masters.  There  was  some 
similarity,  however,  in  the  treatment  both  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  their  contemporaries. 
Books  were  written  as  a  running  commentary 
upon  the  series  of  Hogarth  prints.    The  same 


288    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 


holds  true  of  Chodowiecki's  series.  Lichtenberg, 
the  German  "  explainer  "  of  Hogarth,  discoursed 
at  length  upon  the  "  philosophy  "  of  Chodowiecki, 
and  so  did  the  author  Timme.  Chodowiecki  took 
criticism  in  good  part,  and  wrote  about  Timme : 
"  I  shall  consider  his  strictures,  and  will  be  quite 
just  to  the  author  if  ever  I  find  his  criticism 
worthy  of  notice.  His  attention  to  so  much  detail 
in  my  works  will  induce  me  to  become,  myself, 
more  careful  with  regard  to  it." 

Of  enthusiastic  contemporary  praise,  the  follow- 
ing is  a  fair  specimen  furnished  by  the  famous 
Lavater :  "I  consider  Chodowiecki's  Adieux  de 
Calas  to  be  one  of  the  most  masterly,  natural, 
and  powerful  pieces  which  I  have  ever  seen  in  my 
life  !  How  much  all-pervading  veracity  !  How 
much  naturalness  !  How  fine  the  composition  ! 
How  much  vigour  without  asperity!  how  much 
delicacy  without  overwork !  how  full  of  mean- 
ing is  the  whole  as  well  as  every  part !  how  great 
the  contrast  of  characters,  and  how  harmonious 
and  simple  the  design !  and  ever  and  always 
truth,  and  always  Nature,  and  such  Truth,  such 
Nature,  that  one  would  never  dream  of  thinking 
that  the  occurrence,  the  composition,  any  single 
person  or  the  slightest  detail  were  a  matter  of 
imagination  !     Nothing  has  been  exaggerated  ! 


DANIEL  CHODOWIECKI  289 

All  is  Poetry  and  not  the  semblance  of  Poetry  ! 
One  forgets  the  picture,  and  one  sees — and  does 
not  see — one  is  there — in  the  prison  of  suffering 
innocence  ! "  &c.  The  extravagance  of  such 
praise  is  symptomatic  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
But  we  can  adduce  a  eulogium,  which  counts  for 
more  because  of  its  sober  tone,  and  because  of  its 
author — Goethe.  Nicolai  had  written  a  foolish 
pamphlet  directed  against  Goethe's  "Werther," 
for  which  Chodowiecki  had,  upon  order,  etched 
a  frontispiece.  Goethe  writes  in  Wahrheit  und 
Dichtung:  "  The  extremely  delicate  vignette  by 
Chodowiecki  gave  me  much  pleasure ;  an  artist 
whom  I  always  admired  beyond  measure.  I  cut  it  out 
of  the  book  and  placed  it  amongst  my  favourite 
prints. " 


T 


CHAPTER  XI 


ANTON  GRAFF 


"I  was  born  on  the  18th  of  November  in  the 
year  1736  at  Winterthur  (in  Switzerland)/' wrote 
Anton  Graff  in  a  short  autobiography,  which  has 
been  preserved  at  Dresden  in  a  copy  transcribed 
by  the  painter's  son.  "  My  father  was  a  pewterer, 
and  I  was  expected  to  adopt  his  calling.  How- 
ever, the  delight  which  I  had  always  from  child- 
hood up  taken  in  pictures  awakened  in  me  the 
longing  and  wish  to  become  a  painter."  From  a 
contemporary,  whose  name  was  Heidegger,  we 
learn  that  Graff  was  not  a  good  scholar.  "  Every 
other  thing  interested  him  more  than  the  arts  of 
reading  and  writing :  even  the  severest  caning 
and  the  toughest  pulling  of  his  hair  by  the 
schoolmaster  produced  no  other  result  than 
rendering  the  pupil  bald  at  the  expiration  of  a 
few  weeks,  so  that  he  had  to  cover  his  pate  with 
a  wig,  which  furnished  the  other  schoolboys  some- 
thing to  play  with.  During  lessons  he  used  to 
draw  and  sketch.    Since,  however,  he  durst  not 


ANTON  GRAFF  291 

make  use  of  the  paper  destined  for  the  practice 
of  penmanship,  he  had  to  work  upon  his  own 
leather  breeches.  This  proved  a  happy  inspira- 
tion, without  which  Graff  no  doubt  would  have 
been  turned  into  a  preacher  or  something  of  this 
sort,  in  spite  of  his  objections  to  reading  and 
writing.  For  when  the  said  breeches  were  once 
covered  with  pictures  in  the  front  and  at  the 
sides,  his  genius  perforce  appeared  plain  to  every 
one's  eye. 

"  My  father,"  continued  Graff,  "  however,  was 
not  at  all  willing  that  I  should  become  an  artist, 
until  one  day  the  pastor  (Wirz)  at  Rickenbach 
(who  himself  drew  and  painted  a  little)  persuaded 
him  to  acquiesce  and  to  place  young  Anton  for 
three  years  under  a  painter  called  Schellenberg." 
The  apprenticeship  was  conducted  strictly  on  the 
lines  of  the  house  and  sign  painter  business,  so 
that  in  case  Anton  did  not  realise  the  expectations 
set  upon  him  after  all,  he  could  at  least  earn  a 
living  by  following  the  meaner  pursuits  of  the 
profession.  His  progress  was  signal,  and  he  soon 
became  Schellenberg's  favourite,  who  had  to  ac- 
company his  master  in  all  his  little  expeditions. 
"  Yet  his  life  at  that  time  served  very  little  to 
further  the  artist  in  him.  He  had  to  grind 
several  pots  of  pigment  a  day,  to   clean  the 


292    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

brushes,  and  to  paint  in  the  groundwork  of  a 
few  pictures."  At  the  end  of  his  first  year  he 
had  to  decide  which  branch  of  painting — land- 
scape or  portrait  alone  were  open  to  choice — he 
intended  adopting.  From  purely  business  con- 
siderations he  selected  portrait  painting,  for  he 
knew  that  even  a  landscapist  of  such  good  stand- 
ing as  Aberli  frequently  was  compelled  to  fall 
back  upon  portraiture  in  order  to  make  both 
ends  meet. 

"  At  the  expiration  of  my  apprenticeship  I  had 
to  look  out  for  myself.  It  was  not  an  easy  thing 
to  find  a  master  who  would  take  me  as  an  assistant, 
and  who  was  at  once  so  situated  and  himself  of 
sufficient  abilities  to  render  it  likely  that  I  could 
profit  by  my  staying  with  him.  Schellenberg  had 
written  about  me  to  John  Jacob  Haid  of  Augsburg, 
but  the  reply  that  came  was  to  the  effect  that  he 
could  not  secure  a  position  of  any  kind  for  me. 
If  I  wanted  to  chance  it  and  come  upon  my  own 
risks,  he  would  help  me  with  advice  and  good-will 
as  much  as  he  was  able  to.  On  the  strength  of 
this  promise  I  went  in  June  1756  from  Winterthur 
to  Augsburg,  where  I  arrived  upon  the  17th  of 
the  month.  Haid  duly  and  liberally  kept  his 
promise.  He  found  lodgings  and  a  boarding- 
place  for  me,  and  also  work  to  do,  so  that  I  spent 


ANTON  GRAFF  293 

my  time  advantageously  until  the  year  1757. 
Towards  the  end  of  this  year  I  was  accepted  as 
assistant  by  Schneider,  court-painter  at  Ansbach, 
in  consequence  of  Haid's  recommendation.  For 
I  was  forced  to  leave  Augsburg,  because  several 
painters  called  Haid  to  account  for  aiding  me, 
who  thereby  managed  to  secure  orders  and  work 
which  otherwise  would  have  fallen  to  them. 
Schneider  was  a  native  of  Geislingen,  near  Ulm, 
practised  for  some  time  in  Ratisbon,  Ulm,  and 
the  adjacent  districts,  until  he  was  appointed 
court-painter  at  Ansbach.  His  portraits  weren't 
half  bad,  hastily  executed  indeed,  but  very  like. 
Since  he  painted  very  quickly,  and  was  also  cheap, 
he  got  many  orders  at  this  court,  and  had  to 
keep  assistants.  I  was  of  a  good  deal  of  use  to 
him,  and  had  to  make  copies  and  other  unimport- 
ant things,  from  which  I  could  learn  just  nothing 
at  all.  This  was  the  time  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  when  everybody  wanted  to  own  a  portrait 
of  the  King  of  Prussia  (Frederick  the  Great). 
The  King's  sister,  the  Dowager  Marggravine  of 
Ansbach,  possessed  a  portrait  of  the  King,  which 
had  been  painted  at  Berlin.  This  picture  I  had 
to  copy  time  and  again,  and  finally  I  managed  to 
do  one  copy  a  day.  This,  indeed,  gave  me  no 
help  towards  improving  my  own  knowledge  and 


294    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

proficiency  in  painting.  Painting  nothing  but 
poor  copies  is  not  the  right  way.  I  was  fully 
aware  of  that,  and  would  not  have  stayed  there 
so  long  if  the  manner  of  living  in  this  establish- 
ment had  not  pleased  me  so  well.  Schneider  and 
his  family  were  pleasant  people,  and  he  earned 
a  lot  of  money.  Notwithstanding  he  fell  into 
debt,  so  that  he  died  in  prison." 

Heidegger  again  goes  more  into  detail  about 
the  portrait  copies.  He  says :  "  Probably  he 
would  have  had  to  leave  Ansbach  after  a  not 
much  longer  space  of  time  than  Augsburg,  had 
not  the  wife  of  the  court-painter  favoured  him 
because  of  his  good  looks  and  of  his  being  a  native 
of  Switzerland.  Upon  his  demand  for  work  this 
lady  demanded  whether  he  was  industrious.  His 
natural  answer  was  yes,  and  he  was  at  once  put  to 
the  test.  He  was  led  to  the  painting-room,  given 
palette  and  brushes,  and  placed  before  the  easel 
in  order  to  copy  a  portrait  of  the  King  of  Prussia  ; 
and  the  lady  retired.  The  test  was  not  an  easy 
one,  but  within  two  days  his  copy  was  finished. 
And  so  he  was  given  the  same  task,  to  be  repeated 
for  months.  At  first  the  lady  still  controlled  him 
from  time  to  time.  She  would  listen  at  the  key- 
hole, then  run  to  her  husband  and  say,  *  The 
Swiss  is  painting  so  hard  that  the  easel  shakes.' 


ANTON  GRAFF  295 

Thus  Graff  learned  to  work  expeditiously,  earned 
money  for  himself  and  his  master,  and  won  the 
friendship  of  the  lady  and  of  her  daughters,  who 
were  amiable  enough." 

At  Ansbach  Graff  for  the  first  time  saw  some 
good  work  by  masters  of  a  high  rank.  The  palace 
there  contained  portraits  by  Kupetzky  and  by 
Rigaud,  which  he  studied  and  admired.  Of 
Kupetzky  he  wrote  a  few  years  later  upon  seeing 
some  family  pieces  by  him  at  Bayreuth,  that 
"Nature  herself  rules  there.  It  is  not  as  if  they 
had  been  painted,  it  is  life  itself ;  all  other 
paintings  which  one  sees  after  them  appear  to  be 
flat  and  shallow. "  In  Rigaud's  work  he  admired 
the  brilliant  execution  of  the  accessories,  and  the 
ideal  that  he  had  in  mind  at  the  time  was  a  com- 
bination of  the  several  excellencies  of  these  two 
portrait  painters. 

Graff  was  not  obliged  to  abide  with  the 
Schneiders  until  the  final  crash  came.  "  After  a 
year  and  a  half  had  passed  Haid  wrote  to  me 
that  I  might  return  to  Augsburg  if  I  liked,  and 
could  work  there  undisturbed,  because  the  painters 
who  had  objected  to  me  had  in  the  meantime 
died.  So  I  went  back  to  Augsburg  in  February 
1759,  and  Haid  gave  me  board  and  lodging  in 
his  own  house.    The  first  portrait  I  painted  after 


29 6    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

my  return  was  that  of  Bause,  a  native  of  Halle, 
who  had  come  to  Augsburg  for  a  brief  period  of 
time  to  study  under  an  engraver  there.  From 
now  on  came  an  uninterrupted  series  of  orders 
for  portraits."  Heidegger  puts  it  thus  :  "  Short 
and  tall,  fat  and  lean  patricians,  senators,  pastors, 
wives  and  daughters — all  wanted  their  portraits 
painted  by  Graff." 

The  next  six  years  were  spent  in  quiet  retire- 
ment "  within  the  four  walls  of  a  busy  painter's 
studio,"  and  the  only  occurrences  of  interest  were 
the  visits  of  a  few  friends  who  had  acquired  fame, 
and  three  short  journeys.  The  first  of  these, 
carried  out  in  the  year  1763,  took  him  in  company 
with  his  friend  Haid  to  Munich,  where  he  saw 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life  a  really  important 
gallery,  that  at  Schleissheim,  and  the  pictures  in 
the  palace  at  Munich.  The  local  painter  of  im- 
portance in  that  day  was  Georges  Desmarees,  whose 
reputation  suffered  the  ups  and  downs  of  so  many 
artists  of  the  eighteenth  century.  During  his  life- 
time he  was  praised  beyond  measure.  For  a  full 
century  he  fell  into  absolute  neglect.  The  ten- 
dency to  re-establish  the  painters  round  about 
the  year  1800,  which  led  to  the  fine  centenary 
exhibitions  all  over  Germany  within  the  past 
decade,   has    directed    renewed    attention  to 


ANTON  GRAFF  297 

Desmarees'  merits,  and  he  has  been  reinstalled 
in  the  estimation  of  connoisseurs  as  a  painter  of 
no  mean  qualifications.  It  is  not  certain  whether 
Graft*  came  into  personal  contact  with  him.  But 
the  man's  work  impressed  Graff  to  such  a  degree 
that  it  caused  him  to  change  his  style,  as  appears 
from  the  circumstance  that  he  was  occasionally 
referred  to  as  a  pupil  of  Desmarees. 

"  During  March  1764  Professor  Sulzer  called 
upon  me  on  his  journey  from  Berlin  to  Switzer- 
land. Four  young  men  accompanied  him,  all  of 
whom  became  famous  in  time — Lavater,  Hess, 
Fuessli,  and  Itzeler  of  Schaffhausen.  During 
their  brief  sojourn  at  Augsburg  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  being  with  them  all  the  time,  and  of  doing  the 
honours  of  the  place.  Sulzer  invited  me  to  visit 
him  at  Berlin.  I  had  not  the  faintest  presenti- 
ment at  the  time  that  I  should  become  his  son- 
in-law  one  day.  This  same  year,  in  August,  I 
went  to  Ratisbon,  where  I  painted  very  many  por- 
traits in  oil,  but  on  vellum.  It  was  the  custom  of 
the  day  for  members  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
Municipal  Council  to  have  their  portraits  painted 
in  a  book  of  moderate  size.  But  I  also  did  some 
larger  work  for  the  establishments  of  the  Swedish, 
Russian,  and  Prussian  ambassadors.  I  returned  to 
Augsburg  in  February  1765,  where  I  soon  became 


298    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

acquainted  with  a  certain  Captain  Heidegger,  who 
was  a  native  of  Switzerland,  and  the  brother-in- 
law  of  Salomon  Gessner.  Heidegger  had  been 
in  Dresden,  where  he  had  fallen  in,  among  others, 
with  Herr  von  Hagedorn,  the  Director  of  the 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts  recently  established  in  this 
town.  On  his  return  to  Switzerland  he  passed 
through  Augsburg,  and  upon  learning  that  I,  a 
portrait  painter  and  compatriot,  lived  in  the  city, 
decided  to  look  me  up.  He  told  me  that 
Hagedorn  was  looking  about  for  a  portrait 
painter  (as  a  member  for  the  Academy),  and  that 
he  would  write  to  him  proposing  me  for  the 
position.  But  I  begged  him  not  to  do  so,  as  I 
mistrusted  my  own  capacities,  and  did  not  feel 
myself  able  to  fill  so  important  a  place. 

"  In  the  course  of  this  same  year  I  made  a  trip 
to  Winterthur,  which  I  hadn't  seen  for  nine  years. 
My  intention  was  to  pay  my  natal  city  only  a 
short  visit  and  then  return  to  Augsburg,  where 
I  wanted  to  settle  down  definitely.  At  Winter- 
thur I  painted  the  portrait  of  the  old  mayor 
Hegner  for  the  town  library.  Then  I  went  to 
Zurich  to  look  up  Captain  Heidegger,  who  in- 
troduced me  to  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law 
Gessner,  where  I  was  received  with  great  kindness. 
Heidegger  told  me  that  he  had  written  to  von 


ANTON  GRAFF  299 

Hagcdorn,  and  had  recommended  me  to  him. 
Since,  however,  I  did  not  believe  that  anything 
would  come  of  this,  I  left  Zurich  for  Basle, 
intending  to  visit  my  old  friend  Christian  von 
Mechei  (whose  portrait  I  had  painted  in  1756 
at  Augsburg),  but  did  not  find  him  at  home. 
After  a  very  short  sojourn  at  this  place  I  returned 
to  Winterthur,  where  letters  from  Heidegger  and 
Hagedorn  were  awaiting  me.  Hagedorn  wrote 
that  Heidegger  had  given  him  an  excellent 
account  of  me,  and  he  therefore  proposed  that  I 
should  come  to  Dresden.  I  was  to  receive  one 
hundred  thaler  for  journey  expenses,  and  after 
my  arrival  was  to  paint  a  portrait  on  trial,  for 
which  I  was  to  receive  fifty  thaler.  If  my  work 
met  with  approval,  I  would  be  offered  an  annual 
salary  of  four  hundred  thaler  ;  if  not,  the  refund- 
ing of  my  expenses  and  the  payment  for  the 
portrait,  as  stated  above,  would  be  the  alternative. 

"  I  now  went  back  to  Zurich  to  take  counsel 
what  I  should  do.  Everybody  advised  me  to  go 
to  Dresden  at  once.  But  I  lacked  experience  and 
self-confidence  :  I  had  great  misgivings  as  to  a 
happy  issue  of  the  project,  and  feared  lest  atten- 
tion to  it  would  spoil  my  chances  at  Augsburg. 
I  had  just  finished  a  self-portrait,  which  I  had 
destined  for  the  pastor  at  Rickenbach  as  a  token 


300   STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

of  gratitude  for  his  intervention  with  my  father, 
to  which  alone  I  owed  the  fact  that  I  had  been 
allowed  to  turn  painter.  This  self-portrait  was 
still  in  my  possession  :  I  was  advised  to  send  it 
to  Dresden,  which  I  did.  Pending  the  reply,  I 
remained  with  Salomon  Gessner  at  Zurich,  spend- 
ing happy  days  in  his  house,  also  painting  several 
portraits."  The  most  successful  among  these  were 
one  of  Gessner  himself,  which  seems  to  have  been 
lost,  of  which  we  possess,  however,  a  good  engrav- 
ing by  Bause,  and  one  of  the  painter  John  Caspar 
Fuessli,  no  traces  of  which  have  been  found  since 
the  year  1850. 

It  was  Heidegger  again  who  had  forwarded 
Graff's  self-portrait  to  Hagedorn,  remarking  in 
an  accompanying  letter :  "  Since  the  time  in 
which  this  portrait  was  painted,  the  painter,  by 
the  way,  has  much  improved  upon  his  manner, 
and  adopted  a  much  livelier  style  of  coloration. 
Should  one  thing  or  another  still  be  found  at 
fault,  I  know  for  certain  that  the  artist,  guided 
by  the  criticism  of  connoisseurs,  will  improve  in 
very  little  time."  The  portrait,  a  three-quarter 
length,  seated  before  an  easel,  now  hangs  in  the 
Dresden  Gallery  (No.  2166  of  the  catalogue), 
and  met  with  uncommon  approbation  on  the  part 
of  the  general  critics,  of  Hagedorn,  and  of  the 


ANTON  GRAFF  301 

Administrator  Prince  Xaver.  Graff  accordingly 
received  the  appointment.  He  was  appointed 
painter-in-ordinary  with  a  salary  of  four  hundred 
thaler  from  the  1st  of  October  1765.  (This 
was  an  especial  favour,  so  as  to  render  the  loss  of 
his  first  month's  salary,  which  had  to  be  given  up 
to  the  poor,  less  noticeable  :  Graff  was  not  ex- 
pected to  enter  upon  his  duties  before  April 
1766.)  He  was  to  receive  one  hundred  thaler 
expenses  for  the  journey  (ten  thaler  above  this 
sum  were  actually  paid).  Every  portrait  over 
and  above  the  one  per  year  that  he  had  to  paint 
for  the  court  gratis  was  to  be  paid  for  at  the 
rate  of  fifty  thaler  for  a  half  length  without  hands 
or  with  one  hand,  one  hundred  thaler  for  such 
with  two  hands,  and  a  more  liberal  amount  for 
three-quarter  lengths,  whole  lengths  life-size,  and 
portraits  with  elaborate  accessories,  highly  decor- 
ated court  costumes,  &c.  Besides  the  annual 
gratis  portrait  already  mentioned,  he  was  bound 
to  donate  one  portrait  as  a  reception  piece  upon 
his  being  made  a  member  of  the  Academy,  to 
offer  gratis  instruction  annually  to  at  least  one 
assistant  who  had  been  previously  instructed  in 
the  preparatory  schools,  and  to  arrive  as  soon  as 
possible  in  March  or  April,  and  to  promise  faith- 
fully to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Fine  Arts  in 


302    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

Saxony  to  the  very  best  of  his  ability.  "  So,"  says 
Graff,  "  I  arrived  in  Dresden  on  the  7th  of  April 
1765.  From  now  on  good  luck  ever  attended 
me,  and  I  had  to  paint  very  many  portraits." 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival,  however,  he  felt 
rather  unhappy,  as  one  always  is  apt  to  feel  when 
one  comes  into  altogether  strange  surroundings. 
His  inexperience  and  indecision  surprised  Hage- 
dorn,  and  it  took  him  a  long  time  before  he 
found  lodgings.  He  settled  finally  in  a  house 
in  the  centre  of  the  town,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  marketplace  (Altmarkt,  No.  12 
to-day). 

Here  he  lived  almost  to  the  end  of  his  days. 
Soon  his  countryman,  Adrian  Zingg,  the  land- 
scapist  and  etcher,  was  called  to  Dresden,  and 
from  that  time  on  Graff  began  to  feel  more  com- 
fortable. Hagedorn  returned  very  favourable 
reports  about  his  work  to  Prince  Xaver,  and  also 
wrote  about  him  in  very  complimentary  terms  to 
the  famous  Johann  George  Wille,  line-engraver 
in  Paris.  Graff  rapidly  became  the  favourite 
portrait  artist  of  the  town. 

In  the  year  1769  he  made  an  excursion  to 
Leipsic,  and  here  he  secured  the  patronage  of 
Phil.  Erasmus  Reich.  Reich  was  wealthy,  and 
one  of  the  leading  publishers  of  the  great  book 


ANTON  GRAFF  303 

centre.  His  was  one  of  the  houses  which  Goethe 
had  frequented  as  a  student,  and  a  place  where 
the  literary  and  intellectual  life  of  Leipsic  met. 
Reich  entertained  the  idea  of  having  a  portrait 
gallery  of  all  the  prominent  people  who  frequented 
his  house.  He  entrusted  the  execution  of  the 
portraits  to  Graff :  this  interesting  gallery  is  still 
to  be  seen  at  the  library  of  the  Leipsic  University, 
to  which  it  was  presented  by  Reich's  widow  in 
1 809,  the  year  of  the  celebration  of  this  univer- 
sity's fourth  centenary. 

Reich  wanted  to  have,  besides  the  local  and 
other  Saxon  celebrities,  portraits  of  Spalding, 
Ramler,  Moses  Mendelssohn,  and  Sulzer  in  his 
gallery.  So  he  sent  Graff  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  1 77 1  to  Berlin  to  paint  these  pictures. 
Here  Graff  became  acquainted  with  Sulzer's  eldest 
daughter,  and  fell  in  love  with  the  girl.  Sulzer 
was  glad  to  bestow  her  upon  him,  "  less,"  he 
wrote,  "on  account  of  the  artist's  merits,  though 
they  had  gained  for  him  the  honour  of  being  a 
Saxon  court-painter,  but  because  we  discovered 
his  disposition  to  be  as  clear  and  pure  as  a  beauti- 
ful day  in  spring."  Auguste  was  not  yet  seven- 
teen years  old  when  the  couple  was  married  on 
the  1 6th  of  October  1 77 1 . 

What  with  his  orders  at  home,  those  at  Leipsic, 


3o4    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

and  those  which  he  obtained  through  the  influence 
of  his  father-in-law  at  Berlin,  Graff's  affairs  were 
flourishing.  "  Sulzer  introduced  me  at  court  and 
among  the  nobility,  in  consequence  of  which  I 
had  much  work  to  do.  In  the  year  1777  I 
painted  Prince  Henry  (Frederick  the  Great's 
brother)  at  Rheinsberg.  I  owe  very  much  to 
Berlin."  Twice  indeed  he  was  on  the  point  of 
settling  there,  first  in  1774,  when  for  some  un- 
known reason  he  was  dissatisfied  with  the  way  he 
had  been  treated  at  Dresden;  then  again  in  1788, 
when  he  was  offered  a  position  and  membership 
of  the  Berlin  Academy  (in  which  his  intimate 
friend  Chodowiecki  filled  the  post  of  secretary) 
with  an  annual  salary  of  twelve  hundred  thaler. 
Graff  hesitated  to  accept  the  offer,  partly 
because  he  had  become  attached  to  Dresden, 
where  he  had  fared  so  well  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  partly  from  a  feeling  of  gratitude,  but 
probably  most  because  of  his  disposition  which 
inclined  him  towards  letting  good  alone  and  not 
venturing  on  new,  unknown  ground.  The  Berlin 
offer  served  him  a  good  turn,  however,  in  so  far 
as  he  conquered  his  modesty  and  asked  for  a 
greater  salary  at  home.  This  was  readily  granted  : 
he  received  a  full  professorship  and  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  thaler  in  all,  in  lieu  of  the  four  hundred 


Anton  Graff 


PORTRAIT  OF  THE  ARTIST 

(Dresden) 


ANTON  GRAFF  305 

with  which  he  had  remained  content  for  upwards 
of  twenty  years.  He  also  raised  his  prices,  from 
thirty  thaler  for  a  portrait  without  hands,  to  fifty 
thaler.  The  steady  run  of  his  everyday  life 
was  broken  by  journeys  to  Switzerland  in  the 
summer  of  the  years  178 1,  1786,  and  1796. 
The  frequent  small  excursions  to  Berlin,  Leipsic, 
Carlsbad,  &c,  may  be  looked  upon  as  belonging 
to  his  common  routine.  During  the  last-named 
years  he  had  copied  a  number  of  pictures  in  the 
Dresden  Gallery  for  the  Empress  of  Russia,  who 
rewarded  him  handsomely. 

Graff  had,  by  the  time  the  new  century  had 
come,  turned  into  "  a  kindly-disposed,  bright  old 
gentleman.  The  powder  on  his  hair  kept  one 
from  discovering  whether  it  was  already  grey 
or  perhaps  white.  Although  he  wore  glasses, 
there  was  still  much  fire  in  his  eye.  He  wore  a 
brown  silk  frockcoat  with  large  steel  buttons, 
Brussels  lace  on  his  shirt  and  at  the  cufTs,  a 
flowered  blue  waistcoat,  and  seemed  to  fancy  the 
compliments  which  were  paid  him  on  the  score  of 
his  neatness  of  dress.  His  economy  was  great. 
Another  acquaintance  reports :  "  He  lived  in  a 
single,  large  room,  lighted  by  two  windows,  on 
the  Altmarkt.  A  long  screen  divided  this  room 
lengthwise:  one  of  the  halves  thus  formed  he  used 

u 


3o6    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

as  a  studio,  the  other  was  used  by  the  family " 
(there  were  several  children  !)  ;  "  it  was  living-, 
dining-,  and  bed-room,  all  in  one.  Sometimes  it 
had  to  serve  professional  purposes  even.  Graff 
always  ground  his  own  colours,  and  this  he  did 
in  the  living-room."  His  economy  extended 
only  to  the  regulation  of  his  domestic  establish- 
ment. He  was  by  no  means  parsimonious,  and 
often  lent  a  helping  hand  to  poor  artists.  Yet 
at  his  death  his  fortune  amounted  to  something 
like  forty  thousand  thaler. 

Unfortunately  the  last  years  of  the  poor  old 
man's  life  were  unhappy.  He  had  to  undergo  an 
operation  for  cataract  in  1803.  He  could  paint 
for  some  time  after,  yet  his  eyesight  failed  steadily, 
and  grew  to  be  very  bad  in  the  course  of  his  last 
visit  to  Winterthur,  which  took  place  in  the  end 
of  1 8 1  o  and  beginning  of  1 8 1 1 .  Within  a  year 
of  his  return  to  Dresden  he  lost  his  wife. 

The  troublesome  Napoleonic  period  came  on,  so 
disastrous  for  Saxony,  such  a  period  of  disquiet 
for  Dresden.  The  military  phase  of  life  broke  in 
upon  Graff's  old  age,  and  kept  him  in  constant 
worry  and  unrest.  He  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  I 
haven't  sent  a  word  for  about  six  months,  because 
one  can  neither  write  nor  travel.  Our  condition 
is  lamentable ;  nothing  but  soldiery,  constant 


ANTON  GRAFF  307 

alarms  and  fears,  with  the  outlook  of  losing 
one's  all.  For  the  matter  of  a  year  now,  my 
dear  friend,  I  am  an  unhappy  old  man.  If  I 
saw  my  way  towards  reaching  Switzerland,  I 
would  risk  the  journey  in  spite  of  my  old  age. 
I  can't  continue  life  much  longer  in  these  un- 
quiet times."  Finally  he  is  even  driven  out  of 
his  home,  since  soldiers  and  invalids  are  quartered 
in  the  houses.  He  removes  to  the  house  of  his 
daughter.  Within  a  fortnight  he  fell  into  a  sort 
of  typhoid  fever,  which  brought  about  his  death 
at  the  end  of  twelve  days,  on  the  22nd  of  June 
1813. 

Graff  kept  a  sort  of  working  diary,  in  which  he 
entered  all  his  portraits.  One  of  his  biographers, 
U.  Hegner,  gleaned  therefrom  that  during  the 
years  before  settling  at  Dresden  he  had  executed 
297,  during  the  remainder  of  his  career  943  paint- 
ings and  415  replicas  or  copies.  Besides  this 
work  in  oils,  his  drawings,  notably  322  silver 
points,  count  for  much.  His  work  is  to  be 
met  with  in  almost  all  German  public  galleries, 
the  principal  collections  naturally  being  housed  at 
Winterthur,  Dresden,  and  Leipsic. 

Besides  his  fine  draughtsmanship,  and  his  faculty 
of  embodying  the  inner  life  of  his  sitter  in  the 
presentment  of  his  outer  features,  Graff's  great 


308    STORIES  OF  GERMAN  ARTISTS 

merit  was  the  sobriety  and  straightforwardness 
of  his  conception.  He  relinquished  all  pose : 
he  did  away  with  the  habit  of  painting  everyday 
folk  as  if  they  were  heroes  or  heroines,  a  practice 
very  common  at  the  time  when  he  commenced 
his  career.  He  does  not  even  try  to  make  them 
look  as  if  they  "  had  their  Sunday  clothes  on." 
In  addition  to  its  artistic  qualities,  which  stamp 
Graff's  work  as  that  of  the  portrait  painter  who  was 
unquestionably  first  in  the  whole  of  Germany  of  his 
times,  this  same  series  of  portraits  is  full  of  in- 
terest to  us,  because  it  furnishes  us  with  an  icono- 
graphy of  the  world  of  letters  during  the  last 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


APPENDIX 


The  Authorities  cited  opposite  each  Chapter  are  those  from 
whom  the  major  part  of  its  contents  are  drawn 


I.  School  of  Cologne 

II.  Schongauer  .  . 
III.  Diirer  .... 


IV.  Burgkmair  .  . 
„    Baldung     .  . 

„    Griinewald  .  . 


V.  Altdorfer  . 
„    The  Behams 

Pencz  .  .  . 
VI.  The  Cranachs 


VII.  The  Holbeins  . 

VIII.  Elsheimer   .  . 
IX.  Mengs    .    .  . 


X.  Chodowiecki 
XI.  Graff  .    .  . 


.  Woermann,  Aldenhoven, 
Merlo-  Firmenich-Richartz, 
Escherich. 

.  Sandrart,  Woltmann  ("  El- 
sass"),  Woermann. 

.  Sandrart,  Diirer's  MSS.  (ed. 
Lange  &  Fuhse),  Reick. 

.  Sandrart,  Eisenmann. 

.  Sandrart,  Friedlander  (Allg. 
Lex  ikon). 

.  Sandrart,  Niedermeyer,  A. 
Schmid,  Eisenmann,  Huys- 
mans  ("  Pan  "). 

.  Sandrart,  Friedlander. 

.  Sandrart,  Theo.  Kolde. 

.  Sandrart,  Kurzwelly. 

.  Sandrart,  Woermann  ("Cran- 
ach  Exhibition  Catalogue  "). 

.  Sandrart,  Woltmann,  Sprin- 
ger, Woermann. 

.  Sandrart. 

.  Bianconi,  J.  E.  W.  Miiller : 
the  "  Prange  Notes." 

.  Engelmann,  F.  Meyer,  von 
Oettingen,  Kaemmerer. 

.  Muther,  Vogel. 


u  2 


INDEX 


Abondio,  Alexander,  139 
Aegidius,  Peter,  198 
Albani,  Cardinal,  249 
Albrecht,  Duke,  of  Prussia,  147 
Aldegrever,  Heinrich,  137 
Alexander  VI. ,  Pope,  89 
Allegri,  see  Correggio 
Altdorfer,  Albrecht,  133-138 
Altdorfer,  Erhard,  135 
Amerighi,  see  Caravaggio 
Andrea  d'Angeli,  109 
Anne  of  Cleves,  205 
Annibali,  Domenico,  226-236,  241 
Apelles,  108,  109,  258 
d'Arblay,  Madame,  280 
Archinto,  Cardinal,  238,  243,  244, 

246,  253 

Arundel,  the  Earl  of,  179,  180,  184, 
186 

Augustus  II.,  King  of  Poland,  220 
Augustus  III.,  King  of  Poland,  224- 
242,  248 

Azarra,  the  Cavaliere,  255,  259,  264 

Baldung,  Hans,  99,  107,  117-122, 
197 

Bamberg,  theBishopof,  89,90,91 ,94 

Barbarj,  Iacopo  de',  70,  83 

Basedow,  J.  B. ,  283 

Battoni,  Pompeo,  267 

Bearde,  Richard,  204 

Becker,  Councillor,  275 

Behaim,  Lorenz,  89 

Behams,  the,  136, 138-144,  148, 149, 

150-158 
Bellini,  Gian,  70,  109 
Benedict  XIV.,  Pope,  243,  246, 

247,  248 


Bianconi,  219 
Bink,  Jacob,  141 
Bodenstein,  see  Carlstadt 
Boleyn,  Anne,  201 
Bonisius,  James,  95 
Borbonius,  Nicholas,  183 
Bormann,  Charlotte,  221,  222 
Bouts,  Dirk,  29 

Braschi,  Monsignore  Giovanni,  253 
Braun,  Georg,  14 
Brengbier,  Barbara,  161 
Briihl,  Count,  231,  232 
Bruyn,  Barthel,  23,  36-38 
Bullinger,  A. ,  203 
Buonarroti,  see  Michelangelo 
Burgkmair,  Hans,  43,  112-117,  190 

Cai.as,  Jean,  273 

Camerarius,  109 

Campagnola,  D.,  no 

Cangiaso,  Luca,  251 

Caravaggio,  M.  A.,  182 

Carlos  III.,  King  of  Spain,  249, 

250,  251,  252,  255,  256 
Carlstadt,  Andreas  R. ,  149 
Carmona,  Manuel  S.,  261 
Carmontelle,  L.  C.  de,  273 
Carracci,  the,  233,  260,  267 
Caetani,  Don  Onorato,  262 
Charles  V.,  the  Emperor,  88,  92, 

97,  161,  163 
Chiaveri,  Gaetano,  237 
Chodowiecki,  Daniel,  268-289 
Choffard,  P.  P.,  277 
Christina,  Duchess  of  Milan,  203 
Christopher,  Margrave  of  Baden, 

120 

Cimabue,  Giovanni,  1,  2 


312 


INDEX 


Clement  XIII.,   Pope,  247,  253, 
254 

Cochin,  C.  N.,  277 
Cologne,  the  School  of,  2,  4-38 
Condivi,  Ascanio,  41,  42 
Corelli,  Arcangelo,  265 
Correggio,  Antonio  da,  130,  222, 

234,  235 
Corvi,  Domenico,  267 
Cranach,  John,  163 
Cranach,  Lukas,  the  Elder,  159- 

163,  164,  165,  197 
Cranach,  Lukas,  the  Younger,  160, 

163-166 

Dante  Alighieri,  2,  266 
David,  Gerhard,  31 
Delafosse,  J.  B.,  273 
Denk,  Johann,  150,  157 
Desmardes,  Georges,  296,  297 
Devizet,  Chevalier,  265 
Donauer,  J.,  138 
Du-Fay,  Mr.,  211 
Durer,  Agnes,  56-59,  71,  74,  75, 
91,  98 

Durer,  Albrecht,  the  Elder,  51 
Durer,  Albrecht,  3,  4,  14,  15,  16, 
22,  40,  49,  51-111,  113,  118,  120, 
124,  126,  130,  136,  146,  159,  183, 
197,  216,  279 
Durer,  Andrew  and  Hans,  52 

Edelsheim,  Baron,  255 
Elsheimer,  Adam,  207-217 
Eisen,  Charles,  277 
Erasmus,  Secretary,  95 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  93,  96,  99, 
108,  171,  179,  185,  197,  198,  200 
Ewald,  276 

Fischer,  Sebald,  92 

Frederick  the  Great,  the  Emperor, 

269,  274,  275,  293 
Frederick  the  Wise,  the  Elector, 

77,  78,  161 
Frey,  Hans,  56 
Fuessli,  J.  H.,  297 


Gelenius,  14 
Gerung,  M. ,  129 
Gessner,  Salomon,  298,  300 
Giotto  di  Bondone,  1 
Giulio  de'   Gianuzzi  (Giulio  Ro- 
mano), 147 
Goethe,  J.  W.  von,  289 
Gouda  (Goudt),  Jonckheer,  213 
Graff,  Anton,  282,  284,  285,  290-308 
Gravelot,  Hubert,  277 
Greiffenberger,  149 
Greuze,  J.  B.,  273 
Grimaldi,  Prince,  251 
Gninewald,  Hans,  118,  128 
Griinewald,  Matthaeus,  118, 122-132 
Grus,  Anton,  76 
Guazzi,  Margaret,  236 
Guerini,  Father,  226,  229,  232,  234 
Gwalther,  R.,  203 

Hagedorn,  J.  L.  von,  298,  299,  300 
Haid,  John  Jacob,  270,  292,  293, 
295 

Hasse,  John  Adolph,  226 
Hegner,  U.,  307 

Heidegger,  Captain,  290,  294,  296, 

298,  299,  300 
Heller,  Jacob,  77-82,  127 
Henry  VIII.,  King,  171-176,  201, 

202,  205 

Henry,  Prince  (Frederick  the  Great's 

brother),  304 
Herlin,  Margaret,  119 
Hess,  Jerome,  297 
Hogarth,  William,  287 
Holbein,  Hans,  the  Elder,  168, 169, 

188-194 

Holbein,  Hans,  the  Younger,  22, 

38,  167-205,  216 
Holbein,  Sigmund,  168 
Hollar,  Wenceslaus,  183 
Holper,  Jerome,  52 
Howard,  Catherine,  205 

ITZELER,  J.,  297 

Jacopo  del  Pontormo,  109 
Jobin,  Bernard,  128 


INDEX 


3*3 


Joest,  Jan,  of  Kalkar,  36 
John,  the  Elector,  162 
John,  Lord,  of  Nassau,  209 
John  Frederick,  the  Elector,  162, 
163 

Koberger,  Anthony,  52 
Koburger,  Hanns,  148 
Krel,  Oswolt,  66 
Kress,  C. ,  86 

Krug,  Lukas,  147-148,  155 
Kupetzky,  J. ,  295 

Lancret,  N.,  272 

Landauer,  Mathew,  82 

Lastman,  Pieter,  207 

Lattanzio,  Count,  255 

Lavater,  Johann  K.,  276,  288,  297 

Le  Blon,  Michael,  181,  186 

Le  Brun,  C,  252 

Leonardo  da  Vinci,  196 

Lessing,  G.  E.,  278 

Lichtenberg,  G.  C.,  288 

Lochner,  Stephen,  16-23,  24,  25, 

31.  32 
Lomazzo,  P.,  265 
Lombard,  Lambert,  43 
Lossert,  John,  181 
Luini,  Bernardino,  196 
Luther,  Martin,  106,  162 

Margaret,  the  Archduchess  (Gov- 
erness of  the  Lowlands),  94, 
101 

Marillier,  C.  P. ,  277 
Maron,  Anthony,  247 
Marquard,  Bishop  of  Eichstiidt,  160 
Master  "  E  S,"  the,  47 
Master  of  St.  Bartholomew,  the,  3, 
33-36 

Master  of  the  Holy  Kinship,  the, 

3*-33i  34 
Master  of  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  the, 

3,  22,  23,  24,  26,  29-32 
Matsijs,  Quentin,  92,  198 
Matthoeus   of  Aschaffenburg  (see 

Griinewald) 


Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  169 
Maximilian,  the  Emperor,  83,  85, 

86,  87,  88,  103,  113,  114,  126,  161 
Melanchthon,  107 
Mengs,  Anton  Raphael,  218-267 
Mengs,  Charles  Morris,  221-222 
Mengs,  Ismael,  220-229,  23^>>  25° 
Merian,  Matthew,  114 
Mertens,  Abraham,  209 
Michelangelo,  Buonarroti,  40,  41, 

42,  100,  224,  267 
Middle  Rhine,  the  School  of,  4 
Mitner,  114 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  171,  179,  198, 

200,  201 
Moreau,  Jean  Michel,  277 
Miinzer,  Thomas,  149 

Naples,  the  King  and  Queen  of, 

248,  255 
Neuburg,  Prince,  139,  141 
Neudorffer,  Hans,  148 
Nicolai,  C.  F.,  289 
Nuremberg,  the  School  of,  4 

Oeser,  Adam  F.,  283 
Osiander,  Andreas,  152 

Pallavicini,  Cardinal,  265 

Papin,  M.,  284 

Pater,  J.  B.  J.,  272 

Patenier,  Joachim,  92 

Pelerin,  Jean,  117 

Pembroke,  the  Earl  of,  178,  186 

Pencz,  George,  141,  144-147,  149, 

150, 154 
Perugino,  Pietro,  39 
Pimias,  Jan,  207 
Pirkheimer,  Philipp,  51 
Pirkheimer,  Willibald,  56-59,  68- 

75.  89,  107 
Pius  VI.,  Pope,  257 
Planckfeldt,  Jobst,  91 
Platner,  Hans,  149 
Prevost,  Jan,  99 

QUADT  von  Kinckelbach,  15 


3H 


INDEX 


Raimondi,  Marc  Antonio,  68,  no, 

139,  144.  177 
Raphael,  Santi,  40,  97,  no,  139, 

141,  178,  198,  216,  224,  234,  235, 

244,  267 
Reich,  Phil.  Erasmus,  302,  303 
Rembrandt,  van  Rjin  H. ,  93 
Reni,  Guido,  233 
Rhenanus,  Beatus,  197 
Rigaud,  H.,  295 
Riminaldi,  Cardinal,  264 
Rode,  B.,  271,  272 
Rosa,  Salvatore,  262 
Rubens,  P.  P.,  162,  182 
Rudolf  II.,  the  Emperor,  75,  82 
Rust,  L.,  43 

Sadeler,  Raphael,  126 

Salzmann,  C.  G.,  276 

Sandrart,  Joachim,  114,  117,  118, 

127,   128,  130,   143,   148,  184, 

194,  199,  203 
Santi,  see    Raphael ;    del  Sarto, 

Andrea,  see  Angeli 
Schelken,  Abraham,  123,  127 
Schellenberg,  J.  R. ,  291 
Schildkrot,  E.,  82 
Schneider,  Leonhard,  293,  294 
Schongauer,  Caspar,  43 
Schongauer,  Martin,  4,  12,  19,  39- 

5°.  55.  60,  120 
Sella,  a  jester,  90 
Seymour,  Jane,  202 
Silvestre,  L.  de,  225,  237 
Solms,  Countess,  275 
Spalatin,  Georg,  87,  88,  106 
Stecher,  Bernhard,  91 
Stimmer,  T.,  183 
Stock,  A.,  97 

Stromer,  Philipp  Jacob,  127 
Suabia,  the  School  of,  4 
Suess  von  Kulmbach,  Hans,  65 
Sulzer,  Prof.  J.  G.,  297,  303,  304 
Switzerland,  the  School  of,  4 


Thomann,  James  Ernest,  207 
Timme,  J.,  288 
Titian,  216,  233,  235 
Tyrol,  the  School  of,  4 

Uffenbach,  Philipp,  122,  123,  207 

Van  der  Borch,  183 
Van  der  Goes,  Hugo,  96,  99 
Van  der  Weijden,  Rogier,  22,  43, 
99 

Van  Eijck,  Jan,  99,  100 
Van  Leemputten,  R. ,  202 
Van  Leiden,  Lucas,  101,  216 
Van  Loo,  Andrew,  178 
Van  Mander,  Carel,  168 
Van  Orleij,  Bernard,  96 
Van  Spiring,  114,  127 
Vanucci,  see  Bragnio 
Vanvitelli,  Don  Pietro,  257 
Vasari,  40,  44,  109 
Vecelli,  see  Titian 
Vincidor,  Tommaso,  97 
Von  Mechel,  Christian,  299 
Von  Walberg,  168 

Warham,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 197,  200 
Watteau,  Antoine,  272 
Wilhelm  von  Herle,  Master,  3,  6, 

7,  8,  13 

Wille,  Johann  George,  302 
William  of  Bavaria,  the  Duke,  125 
Williams,  Sir  Hambury,  240 
Wimpheling,  Jacob,  45 
Wohlgemuth,  Michael,  54,  72 
Wynrich,  Hermann,  of  Wesel,  6, 

8,  9.  14 

Xaver,  Prince,  301,  302 

Zelada,  Cardinal,  255 
Zingg,  Adrian,  283,  302 
Zucchero,  Federigo,  178 


Printed  by  Ballantvne,  Hanson  &  Co. 
Edinburgh  &>  London 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


3  3125  00830  1141 


